Kunoichi Plus Magic Equals Madness
by senpai chan
Summary: Kakashi's twin sister is dispatched to train our hapless hero Harry  try saying that 5 times fast !  However, the plans of mice and Death Eaters always go awry.  the OC is NOT paired with any Harry Potter character
1. Chapter 1

Kunoichi Plus Magic Equals Madness

Disclaimer- Sooooo not mine :(

Chapter One: In Which Harry's Summer Gets Interesting

He'd been back for a week and was bored out of his skull. No one had written him, though to be fair, he thought, there was probably nothing to write about this early in the summer. He gazed out his window, looking in a glazed manner at the cookie cutter homes; all identical in construction and even paint color. Mr. Number Nine Private Drive was mowing his lawn, while Mrs. Number Two was planting daisies. Everything was so dull and normal, Harry could just scream. Then a flash of color caught his eye, and Harry turned to see it more clearly, only to gawk when the source of color came into his sight.

It was a young woman moving fluidly down the dreary sidewalks of the small suburb. He couldn't tell her height from this distance, but her rather shocking silver hair is what truly caught his eyes. Her clothes would have Aunt Petunia gnash her teeth in envy, as Harry had seen her complain and moan over fashion magazines that if they didn't have to take care of the 'boy' she could afford the most expensive and fashionable clothes. A pinstriped black skirt, a bit above her knees, and a short-sleeved wrap shirt, sky blue in color that complimented her eyes, showed off a slender form. A strange pendant like a flame was suspended from a silver chain, but what caught and held Harry's attention was the mask. Not a Death Eater's mask, but a cloth one that covered the lower half of the silver haired young woman's face, which led the neighbors to stop their busy work and stare at the otherwise normal looking woman. Harry idly wondered if she was lost, since Private Drive hardly seemed the place for such a woman, when suddenly the young woman looked up right at him and winked. Startled, Harry scooted away from the window, and stared wide eyed at his sleeping owl.

Meanwhile Aunt Petunia was downstairs, cleaning up from making an early dinner for her precious Duddykins when the doorbell rang. She dried her hands and hoped it wasn't Mrs. Number Three again, asking to borrow sugar, the leech. These mundane thoughts were brought to a screeching halt, as she opened the door to reveal the young woman that Harry had been watching before. She wasn't dressed like the freaks, Petunia's mind absently noted, excepted for the mask.

"We're not interested in buying anything," Petunia said abruptly and moved to shut the door in the strange woman's masked face. A slender, pale arm shot out and smoothly kept the door open, belying the seemingly thin and frail form.

"Well you're in luck then," the woman replied pleasantly, blue eyes mild as if Petunia hadn't just tried to slam the door in her face. "I am from the St. Brutus' School for Incurably Criminal Boys, and I'm here to offer your nephew a spot at our rehabilitation summer camp." And now her eyes glinted with amusement, as if she knew Petunia couldn't refuse her entrance now. Which Petunia unfortunately couldn't, since it was common knowledge that she and Vernon sent the boy away as much as they could manage. So with a smile more like a grimace, Petunia allowed the woman into her pristine home.

Shutting the door with a click, Petunia turned to face the woman standing in her hallway, no doubt infecting it with whatever slum she'd come from, conveniently ignoring the expensive Armani skirt, designer shirt, Gucci side bag, and Prada shoes, this year's summer selection. But before she could speak, the silver haired woman did.

"Well since both you and I know that your nephew doesn't attend St. Brutus', why don't you call him down so I may speak to him. I was serious about taking him off your hands for the summer." With a click that sounded like the door, Petunia closed her mouth, lips a thin, displeased frown. Much as she wanted to tell the young woman off for telling her what to do in her own home, Petunia knew what these freaks could do if angered. And no matter how normal, and expensive she dressed, Petunia knew this woman was one of the wi - freaks.

"Boy, get down here now," she called up the stairs shrilly.

"Coming Aunt Petunia," came a weary voice, and the odd young woman got her first full look at the famous Boy-Who-Lived. He was small for his age, which she recalled was going to be fifteen in a month or so. Messy black hair that reminded her of an Inuzuka, and enchantingly large emerald eyes, obscured partially by round, beat up black frames. He was pale, and had dark bags under his eyes; painfully thin, which the huge clothes that looked like they were swallowing him only exaggerated. Not a promising figure, but the Sandime had assigned her specifically, believing she could get the job done.

"Hello Harry," she said pleasantly, eyes sparkling with mischief as Harry stared at her. "I'm here to collect you for the summer." She didn't bother to elaborate, since his aunt was still glaring at the pair of them. The kunoichi was pleased to see that Harry's gaze became wary, and his hand drifted to his pocket, which most likely housed his wand. "Relax Harry, I come bearing proof," she said passing him a sealed envelope, addressed to him in green ink, in the Headmaster's spidery writing and with his personal seal. He accepted it suspiciously and broke the seal.

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. With Voldemort's subsequent rebirth, I find it necessary to begin your true training early. What you have learned in school, while adequate for the average witch or wizard, is simply not enough for your future protection. Voldemort knows our entire curriculum and I am afraid much more darker things. In light of this, I have called in an old favor with a friend of mine, who promised to send not only their best bodyguard, but a competent teacher as well. I have specially enchanted this parchment to pass from only my friend's hands to that of the selected shinobi or kunoichi. Trust them as you trust me Harry, and I will see you soon._

_Albus Dumbledoor_

Harry looked up from the letter, staring at the woman again. She was a bodyguard, was his doubtful thought, as she seemed too petite and slight to protect herself, let alone someone who had an insane dark lord after them.

However, what popped out of his mouth wasn't a question about her skills. "What exactly is a shinobi and kunoichi, and if I'm to go with you, what's your name?" He asked his brow furrowed.

"A shinobi the male name for a ninja, kunoichi the female one. As for my name, I'm Hatake Katsumi, or as you English say it, Katsumi Hatake." Katsumi responded, and Harry caught a faint accent, though her English was near flawless.

"Well are you taking him or not," broke in Petunia, who wanted to hear no more of this make believe "ninja" business, or other equally freakish things. Katsumi shot the horse-faced woman an annoyed look; at least, Petunia guessed it was annoyance. It was hard to tell with that mask covering her face.

"Yes, Harry get your things it's time to go," the kunoichi said, glancing outside at the darkening sky.

Hesitating only slightly, Harry nodded slightly and dashed up the stairs to gather what little he had brought out, consisting of Hedwig's owl treats, his photo album, and some quills and parchment. Tossing it all into his trunk, Harry grabbed Hedwig and carried the sleeping bird in one hand, dragging his heavy trunk in another.

Watching Petunia get redder with each **thunk** the trunk made coming down the stairs encouraged Katsumi that perhaps she wouldn't assist Harry. However, the excess of noise brought Dudley out of his T.V. induced stupor.

"MUMMY make it stop, I can't hear the telly," he wailed. Katsumi raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.

"Boy, I mean, Harry, you pick up that trunk this instant," Petunia hissed. Harry gave her an incredulous look, but attempted to do it any way. Katsumi sighed inwardly, and went up to the landing and picked up the trunk, lifting it up over one shoulder. Gaping for a moment, Harry follow, though he knew the trunk had to weigh at least fifty pounds. But the pale woman showed no sigh of distress, and set it down easily in the hallway. Reaching into her side bag, which made Petunia flinch and Harry look hopeful, she instead pulled out an odd, adjustable metal frame with wheels, which she attached to the trunk.

"Come now Mr. Potter, I believe it's time we left." She said, blue eyes crinkling in a smile. But as she and Harry turned to leave, who should come home but Mr. Dursly. The beefy man lumbered through the door, in an obviously foul mood. Spotting a stranger, in a mask no less, and that_ boy_,the cause of all his trouble, caused him to lose what little hold on his temper he had.

"MORE FREAKS IN MY HOUSE! THAT IS THE LAST STRAW, I AM CALLING THE POLICE AND FILING FOR HARRASMENT AND BREAKING AND ENTERING, AND EVEN KIDNAPPING IF IT WILL MAKE YOU ALL STAY AWAY!" And he marched, well really waddled, over to the phone and began dialing.

Katsumi was chosen more for her abilities in teaching and protection skills, not her diplomacy, so she was understandably irritated with this family at this point. Also, involvement of the local authorities was definitely against her low profile ideal. "For the love of Kami," she grumbled, and after motioning Harry to step closer to her, she made some rapid hand signs, and in a swirl of leaves vanished, boy, owl, and trunk in tow. Which left a frightful mess of leaves down the entire hallway, some even scattering across Vernon and Petunia, leaving them both to bellow or shriek in rage.

With a whirl of leaves, and to Harry's surprise, they reappeared on the Hogwarts' grounds, not far from Hagrid's hut. It was not uncomfortable way of traveling, unlike portkey, floo, or even apparation.

"How did you apparate to the Hogwarts grounds, if it's supposed to be impossible?" Harry exclaimed as Katsumi brushed leaves off her clothes.

"I didn't apparate, I am no witch, but I have my own skills." Amused eyes laughed at his amazement as she gestured toward the castle. "Let's get settled and then I'll answer some questions." Not waiting for his response, Katsumi set off for the castle.

Harry followed the young woman though the Entrance Hall, but as he tried to head to the Gryffindor dorms, his arm was tapped and he was motioned to continue following. Slightly confused but obedient, Harry altered his course and continued to follow Katsumi, up a few flights of moving staircases, until she came to a stop in front of a some what rusty looking suit of armor.

"~_Nabeshima~_," she said to it, and the armor trundled to one side to reveal a doorway. A comfortably sized living room done in green and blue, welcomed the two in and Harry saw three doors, each marked with a plaque labeling it.

"Your room is the second to the right, mine being the first," Katsumi said, waving her hand indicating the proper door. "On the left is my own personal library and study, you're to ask before reading any of the scrolls in there, but the books are open to your use. An adjoining bathroom should be attached to your rooms, so if you want to wash up before dinner Harry, feel free. We'll talk over dinner." With that she went over to her rooms, to change presumably.

Harry's rooms he was glad to see were more like his normal dorm rooms, large red four poster bed, a desk in one corner, a plush ebony recliner angled in another corner, and an empty owl stand. He was relieved to see his new room had a window, and opened it, and allowed Hedwig to fly out. Looking at the height, Harry guessed they were on the sixth floor. His bathroom was cream, gold, with red accent towels. Harry took the silver haired woman's advice and splashed some water in his face, wondering if it would wake him up from this strange reality. Nope, still here, just a bit wetter.

Coming back into the living room, Harry saw that their dinner was already set up on a low table, two liver and kidney pies, green beans, a jug of pumpkin juice, and two small cups of blue jello.

"Sit and eat gaki, it'll get cold soon, and I'll explain as you do," said Katsumi. She still wore the outfit she'd worn to pick him up, but now a curious blue headband with a metal plate with the etching of a leaf on it adorned her forehead. "Ah, first things first, Dumbledoor-dono said to drink this first, and we'll continue." Then she passed him a murky yellow potion bottle, and after a bit of hesitation, Harry downed it. Choking on the foul taste, he quickly washed it down with a glass of sweet pumpkin juice.

"What was that?" He demanded, face still twisted in disgust.

"~That was a specially brewed potion between Dumbledoor-dono and my Hokage, to allow for faster translation between me and you. What I speak normally is similar to your Japanese, but not enough, so this was created. ~" To Harry's shock, he understood all of it, though the language did not register as English to his over-stimulated brain. Katsumi gave him an understanding look; it was strange to her as well. "~Ask what you will, I'll answer it if I can. ~"

What seemed like hundreds of questions whirled around Harry's brain fighting for dominance. "~ What are you going to teach me that I can't learn here at Hogwarts normally if you're not a witch? ~" Was the first out, not even noticing that he was using the same language to respond, and Katsumi gave him a look that Harry couldn't decipher, her mask made it all the more difficult.

"~Magic is all well and good, but what I and other ninja use is equally effective, even more so in battle, which I'm sure you'll find your self in before long. What I shall endeavor to teach you is the use of chakra, your body's energy source, and the power that ninja use. It will give you a large advantage over the other wizards and witches you do battle with, even if they are more advanced in magic than you. ~" Harry appreciated the sense in this, as he had been wondering even during the Triwizard Tournament how he was expected to do battle with wizards much farther ahead of him in school, to say nothing of Voldemort and his followers.

"~ Why are you doing this for me? Who was the 'old favor' and who this friend of the Headmaster's? ~" The explanation was only getting more confusing as it went on, so the questions continued to spill out of Harry.

It continued in this manner for quite some time, Katsumi patiently answering questions, or avoiding them if they were too personal. Luckily there weren't many of those since Harry really wasn't the nosy type. Finally, Harry had exhausted his questions, and realized with a start that he'd eaten his entire dinner and couldn't remember it, or for that matter, even saw when Katsumi moved her mask to eat her now gone dinner. It was rather disconcerting, and Harry could have sworn that he saw her eyes twinkle a bit with laughter.

"Well Harry-kun, it's time to sleep, we have early training and you need all the rest you can get." With that she stood, clapped her hands, and walked off to her rooms. Leaving a suddenly sleepy Harry stumbling off to his rooms.

Katsumi POV

'That went pretty well,' she thought as she bedded down in the softest bed she'd ever been in. 'Maa maa, I'm going to get soft here if I don't watch it! No wonder these wizards underestimate their magic-less counterparts. Their magic's made them so soft and arrogant. Well Harry's young enough to break of that,' Katsumi thought philosophically. A thump at the foot of her bed had her looking up lazily, already knowing who was there.

"Hey Ikko, you get the lay of this place and leave the chakra markers I asked for?" Katsumi asked her fox summon-companion, his dark red coat and black marking making him blend in the gloomy room.

"Yup," said the fox irreverently, knowing he could get away with talking to her like that since he'd been with her ever since she was ten, when her brother had summoned his first dog, Pakkun, and she summoned Ikko. "These wand-wavers must be blind not to notice them."

"Eh, you know what sensei always said 'Never begrudge the enemy their stupidity.' I'm fine with keeping my secrets. Besides," she continued a bit more seriously, "I'm alone here aside from the occasional courier, and it will serve to test when young Potter Harry can see chakra."

The black-footed fox began grooming himself, feigning disinterest. "So does the whelp have any potential?" Katsumi smirked at Ikko, seeing through his façade.

"He's near on par with the demon container, Uzamaki Naruto. Minus the demon part," she said, continuing with a hard tone in her voice. "These wand-wavers are damn lucky his chakra is near pure and untainted, or it could have found some pretty nasty outlets. I need to begin his training in it and the physical stuff immediately. No time to play with theory, or waste the summer on purely physical stuff. We got our work cut out for us Ikko my friend."

"Sleep first, work later," came Ikko's voice, now near her head on a spare pillow. Katsumi smile and relaxed her body for the first time that day and drifted off to sleep.

lalalaladieedada


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Danger At Hogwarts

Disclaimer: Sadly, the Harry Potter and Naruto crews are still not mine :(

The summer was flying by, the first two weeks passing like Chinese water torture for poor Harry, who had weights strapped onto him. Katsumi-sensei, as he learned that was the proper address for his teacher, was a cheerful and merciless slave driver. There were some mornings they were sometimes up hours before dawn, though usually he was awoken only an hour before dawn for running, push-ups, sit-ups, and more running. Then over breakfast; he still had never seen the other half of Katsumi-sensei's face, he would get a quick overview on the use of chakra in whatever exercise they were going to do today. He found shadow clones very easy, and making doppelgangers only slightly more difficult. And when Katsumi-sensei found out he had a hard time concentrating, she assigned him an hour of meditation before bed. Thing is, Harry knew he had fallen asleep several times during his meditation time, yet the next morning he was being woken up from his usual spot in his bed. This gave Harry a funny feeling in his heart; maybe this is what it was like to have someone care about you.

He shook his head, knowing that she was just doing her job.

He'd mastered all that and tree walking, and was almost proficient at water walking, all within about a month and a half's time. Harry had no idea how amazing that was, but he could see a proud glint in his sensei's eyes and was proud of his accomplishments.

Stifling a groan, Harry slid out of bed and put his weights on again. They had been adjusted just this week, and he was not quite used to it. As he slipped on a blue stretchy tank top, pants that tapered at the cuff and open toed sandals, one of a several outfits that Katsumi-sensei provided saying it had belonged to her twin brother when he was that size when she saw his horrible clothes from the Dursleys, he smiled at the small red and black fox that pushed his way into the room.

"Morning gaki, Katsumi says to be sure to put on your kunai and shiruken today, you're going into the Forest." Message delivered, Ikko hopped into Harry's now vacant bed and curled up in the warm indent, dozing off promptly.

"'Kay Ikko, thanks," Harry said to the sleeping summon, wrapping his weapons around different legs at different heights. Properly attired, Harry gave a nod to his appearance, glad that he'd let Katsumi-sensei talk him into growing his hair out. It had grow unnaturally fast actually, like when he'd been a child with that horrid hair cut, and he could now secure it in a low ponytail, which made his sensei laugh the first time she saw it that way, calling him Satome Ramna. Though she hastened to assure him that it was a good thing before he could feel self-conscious.

"Good morning Harry-kun, ready for another fun filled day?" Asked his sensei cheerfully, making him wonder just how early before four in the morning Katsumi-sensei got up each morning to be that awake and happy about it.

"Pretty well Katsumi-sensei, and you?" He returned, politely serving her first then himself breakfast. Her eyes twinkled in response, and Harry having spent nearly every waking moment in his sensei's company, correctly interpreted this to mean 'very well thanks gaki'. She quickly launched into the day's plan, where he would warm up with twenty laps around the Quidditch pitch, and then enter the Forest in search of his teacher. He would be following his sensei, and would have to avoid the traps she'd lay out. What he didn't realize she planned on following him the entire time, wondering if he would recognize she would be a doppelganger in the end. Besides, there's no way she'd let her gaki wander around in a forest that nostalgically reminded her of the Forest of Death! By the end of the day she would be glad she decided this, as she strapped her father's light blade to her back, a gift from her brother while he wasn't here to back her up. They both finished quickly, and left out of the living room window. That had freaked out the gaki the first time she'd hopped out the window, but after a while, he became blasé about it, and after learning to manipulate his chakra, he did it himself as casually as walking out the door.

He was on his last lap, and beginning to sense something was off. Expecting one of his sensei's traps, Harry was shocked to see a Stunning spell shoot by. Turning to see where the attack came from, Harry got the nastiest surprise of his summer when he saw ten Death Eaters emerging from the Forbidden Forest. In a stupor of panic, Harry realized he'd not carried his wand on him for fear of breaking it, and couldn't think of how he could fight them. Suddenly Katsumi-sensei was in front of him, shielding him, a familiar fighting stance taken.

"Snap out of it Harry, you must drop your weights and fight!"

"B-but I don't have my wand…" He said, his voice, to his shame, quivering.

"Kami damn it, have I trained you as a shinobi or not Harry?" Katsumi-sensei demanded. This snapped him out of his panic, and he quickly shucked off his weights and took up a defensive stance behind his teacher, a kunai in his right fist.

"Surrender the boy, we have no quarrel with you. In fact our Lord would like to hire you if possible. You would be richly rewarded for your service." Harry knew that evil, smooth voice. Malfoy Senior, slimy Death Eater that he was, trying to bribe his teacher.

"Sure," his teacher said easily, a slight change in her weight. Before Harry could even look betrayed, she continued with, "when Hell freezes over." A cold menace entered her voice, and a killer's aura surrounded Katsumi-sensei. "No one threatens my precious people." Now from experience with both his sensei and Death Eaters, they would want to talk and his teacher… yup, would attack right off.

He followed closely as he could behind Katsumi-sensei; her speed was one of her greatest strengths. Her fist smashed Malfoy Senior's mask, sending him flying back, shocking his fellows. They began firing off spells at random at the two figures speeding around them at incredible levels of swiftness. Frankly, Katsumi was finding them rather pathetically easy, once you got out of the range of their spells. One of the Death Eaters she noticed was missing every time and nearly hitting the others in his group. Katsumi remembered that Dumbledoor-dono had a spy within the ranks, a teacher at his school. She figured he would be a likely choice for a mission of kidnapping or killing at the school he worked at, so she blurred behind him and gently tapped pressure points to knock him out but avoid harming him, making sure he fell correctly. However, this distracted her long enough for one of those toe-rag Death Munchers to catch a lucky hit across her left ribs. And her gaki was getting cornered! Time to up her game and finish this farce of a battle.

Harry was feeling a bit panicky again at this point; he was being cornered by three of the four remaining Death Eaters. Dancing nimbly to avoid the Crucio Curse, he darted forward and sliced the tendons of the Death Eater's wand arm, and the attacker fell back with a scream. An unexpected hail of needles from another wand caught Harry by surprise, and he barely had enough time to protect his face with his arms. This caused Harry to miss the dark blur that darted in front of him and cute, little Ikko ripped out that Death Eater's throat. Katsumi swiftly beheaded the other, beyond caring about prisoners to interrogate. She figured coldly that she'd left enough of them for Dumbledoor-dono. Her deshi was more important, and he needed her right now.

"Hey Harry-kun, you going be alright for a bit while I secure the Death Eaters?" Asked Katsumi-sensei, the worry in her eyes and voice telling him that he could just say the word and she'd just kill the rest of them and tend to him. He mustered a weak smile and nodded, and gave a more genuine smile to the bloody Ikko, who rubbed gently against his calf. Harry sat on a patch of grass that wasn't blood soaked, and in a detached manner noticed that out of the ten Death Eaters, only three seemed to be alive. He wondered if this would haunt him later, and found he just couldn't bring himself to care, since he hadn't actually killed any of them. Then Katsumi-sensei was gently removing the needles from his arms and shoulders, smoothing a salve along the punctures and wrapping them in her ever present supply of bandages. The rush of battle wearing off, Harry found himself leaning into his sensei, her voice making soothing sounds, and he drifted off to oblivion. Harry however missed the in mass portkeying of a good deal of the Order of the Phoenix.

The Order, with Dumbledoor in the lead, stopped short upon coming to the battlefield. The bodies of dead Death Eaters were strewn about like broken voodoo dolls, causing some of the younger, not yet battle hardened members to turn green and retch behind a nearby tree. Two were hog tied, their hands to their feet, and one was laid out and beginning to stir. Bill Weasly and Emiline Vance quickly trained wands on him, but a harsh voice cut to them.

"You might want your spy in one piece. I'd hate to have taken him out gently for you all to curse and kill him now. I took a hit to the ribs for that." Minerva and Dumbledoor moved swiftly to the injured woman, but she waved them off, and instead hoisted Harry into her arms.

"Let's go to the castle first and plan from a secure location," she said, and headed off, not waiting for the others, and the Order was amazed to see the mysterious ninja turn her back on them, and walk towards the castle with their savior in their arms and a blood covered fox trotting beside her. Dumbledoor had to smile at that, she was very much like his old friend after a battle, taciturn, brisk bordering on offensive, and very protective of his friends, their welfare put before his own. Yes, Sarutobi had picked a very good kunoichi for this job.

The dead Death Eaters were transfigured into sticks and bundled up to be dealt with later, while the two tied up ones were levitated by Mad-Eye and Arthur, none to gently, to be locked up in special holding cells. Severus, for that's who the spy was, was helped up by Dumbledoor, Severus waving off his hands after he stood. In shock, Severus surveyed the bloody field.

"How many are still alive," he asked Dumbledoor quietly.

"Two besides you, my boy, you're lucky Ms. Hatake recognized you as the spy or you might not be alive now." Severus grunted, but by this point he realized he didn't even have a stray bruise thanks to the ninja.

"The fight was barely that, Ms. Hatake and the Potter boy were nearly done when she took me out. Albus, they were done in about six minutes, and they didn't cast a single spell." The Order members gaped at Severus for this pronouncement, but Dumbledoor just gave a slightly sad smile, knowing that ninja were trained to be far more dangerous weapons than people. And now he had to have young Harry trained in such a manner to keep him alive from a madman. If Lily were alive she'd singe his beard off.

Most of the Order left after it was obvious that they wouldn't be needed, and Dumbledoor, Minerva, Severus, Tonks and Mad-Eye relocated to the castle, to be met at the entrance by the still somewhat bloody fox they had seen before, grooming his mussed fur.

"Would you mind taking us to your mistress?" Dumbledoor asked politely, and the black-footed fox gave him a slight nod, and trotted off. The group followed him to a suit of armor that the fox yowled at, and it sidled to the side for him. All of them except Dumbledoor traded glances at this, but trooped into a comfortable living room, Severus and Moody standing, while the others took seats.

The kunoichi the Order had heard whispers about since Dumbledoor employed her came out, two scrolls in one hand and a quill in another, as well as a towel over her shoulder. The small fox bounded up to her and her eyes seemed to smile at it, and she wiped him off, then sent him off with instructions to watch over the sleeping Harry. Then to the shock of all, she peeled off her mesh short-sleeved shirt and pulled her blue tank top up to expose a long gash along her left ribs.

It was bleeding profusely now, and the others, beside Moody, made some kind of move towards her to help. To the disgust to most in the room, Katsumi held an empty wooden bowl to the bleeding gash, catching half a bowl full before she placed a light pad over it and began to bandage her wound her self. The bowl, scrolls, and quill were set on the low table as she finished her bandaging job. Still stunned silent, the others continued to watch as the young woman seemed pleased that the job was well done, then she unrolled a scroll and began writing in another language in her blood!

"What the bloody hells are you doing?" A shocked Tonks almost yelled, but was quieted by a fierce look from the calligraphy writing kunoichi, looking even more menacing while writing beautiful looking foreign words in her own blood.

"I'm making a seal responsive only to me, or rather my blood and a counter seal. They both have to be done in fresh blood, so excuse me while I don't waste my blood for the sake of your delicate sensibilities. I am capable of both talking and working, so go ahead and start talking at me." Severus smirked at this, there was cold logic in that, and he could always appreciate well-played sarcasm. She continued, moving at a surprising speed without smearing the graceful, if gruesome, letters. Dumbledoor seemed shaken out of his surprise, though Severus noted that he didn't seem all that surprised to begin with.

"Hatake-san, I do believe it's time you and Harry relocated to the Order headquarters." He held up a hand to forestall any protest the kunoichi was about to make. "I understand you wanted to train Harry for at least the summer uninterrupted, but this attack just proves what you said, we need to ward this place more heavily, and though you did well for yourselves this time, I myself would feel better knowing Harry was in a completely secure location."

"Hai Dumbledoor-dono, I will go today once the gaki wakes up. Though I will be continuing his training without interference from your Order members, and I'd like a large room and equipped to deal with the damage a chuunin could deal out." Katsumi had returned to her scroll after her client had politely ordered her to go, but she did have a few things that were required. She sprinkled chakra-holding sand over the damp letters, though the actual imbuing of chakra would have to take place later after she was healed and properly meditated. The first seal was done, and so she pulled out the next scroll, the counter seal. She'd already worked through more than half of her blood in the bowl and with a bit of a sigh realized she'd have to peel off her bandages to get more.

Dumbledoor politely ignored the silver haired woman blooding her self again, and continued on. "I'll do my best, but please, stick to taijutsu, no ninjutsu or genjutsu in the house is all I ask. I'd like the headquarters in one piece." Katsumi nodded absently as she redid her bandages, and began writing again on another blank scroll. The others had no idea what was going on, but figured as long as Dumbledoor did, it was fine. Even if the ninja he employed was currently writing ominous looking symbols in blood. However, Dumbledoor by now guessed at what she was doing, and sincerely hoped her seal scrolls wouldn't not be needed.

"Well if that's all, we will be going, I will leave Severus to assist you there, and myself and the others will personally take care of the selection and warding of your training room." Dumbledoor said, standing.

"Thank you Dumbledoor-dono," she said, and as he turned to leave she added, "and Hokage-sama says, 'Hey Oji-san, look underneath the underneath'." Dumbledoor just laughed at the old inside joke and left chuckling, being trailed by confused Order members.

Severus watched as the mysterious ninja finished up with the last few graceful strokes of her blood ink. The oddly glittering sand stuck to the letters as she rolled it up with a snap, and she tied it off in a different pattern than the first one. There was a small amount of blood left in the bowl, and without being asked, Severus handed her a blood-replenishing potion, which she downed with a murmur of thanks. He cast a Scurify on it, and she tipped the last bit of blood into the vial, filling it up completely. Katsumi re-corked it, wrapped it up in some left over bandage, and unscrewed the center of her second scroll. The kunoichi carefully stowed the small bottle of blood in the scroll and then closed it up.

"My thanks Snape-san," she said quietly, rolling her shoulders to work out the kinks that kind of writing put in them.

"I'm afraid you have the advantage, you know my name but I don't know yours. Besides, you saved my life, I suppose you may call me by my first name." Severus wasn't sure what had come over him, but he was truly grateful to someone in a long time, and could see ghosts similar to his own in the young shinobi's sky blue eyes. A kind of kinship was born between the two of them as they examined the memories in each other's eyes.

"My pleasure Severus-kun, and I am Katsumi Hatake." Here she gave him a smile, eyes sparkling. "But my friends call me Sumi, and I'd like us to be friends. Besides, from the looks of things," and here her smile turned a bit smirk-like, "it would shock all your Order members if their spy was suddenly friends with someone." Severus gave a small chuckle, and smirked back.

"It would be nice to have a friend, Sumi-chan," he replied, and his smirk grew as he saw her raised eyebrows. "Who do you think brewed the potion for languages? I am the Potions Master here." Katsumi just shook her head ruefully, and remembered with a start something her gaki said about this man. With an inward sigh, she hoped she wasn't about to destroy their tentative, new friendship.

"Severus-kun, I must ask you to be civil to my apprentice," she said looking steadily into his eyes. "The boy you think you know is merely the image of his father you put on him. Harry has told me of how you regard him, and I'd hate to be put between my gaki or my friend. I only ask you to be civil, nothing more." Severus wanted to be angry, damn Potter was ruining another good thing, but the truth was obvious in Katsumi's eyes, and Severus sighed and let his anger slip away.

"I will try Sumi-chan, that is the best I can do," he admitted, and Katsumi smiled broadly enough that it was obvious even with her mask obscuring the lower half of her face.

"That's all I ask Severus-kun! Come, you can help me pack with that magic you wizards are all so obsessed with," and Katsumi cheerfully bounced out of the room. Severus just shook his head and followed her to her study, finding it hard to reconcile this nearly manically happy young woman with the stone-cold killer he had faced just an hour or so before.

His chest felt heavy, Harry thought as he slowly woke up. Blearily, he rubbed his eyes; glad for the eye correction potion Katsumi-sensei had gotten for him when he'd broken his glasses again during the second day of training. A snoozing fox was apparently was the weight holding him down. Harry raised a bandaged arm and gently stroked Ikko's soft head, waking the fox-summon. A beady black eye cracked open and Ikko gave a foxy grin, and licked Harry's nose.

"Good afternoon gaki, Katsumi will be glad you got up finally. Now she can stop nagging Severus." Ikko hopped off the bed, leaving Harry staring at him in astonishment at the mention of his sensei's name and Snape the greasy git's in the same sentence. He wasn't left to stew for long as Katsumi-sensei burst into his room, Snape following like an overly tall shadow, who hung back in the door way.

"Slept long enough gaki? You were starting to worry me! Bad Harry, you're going to make me bald since I'm already a beautiful silver hair young woman, then you'll have that tragedy on you conscious." This rapid-fire manner of speaking was normal for him, so Harry let the comfort of normalcy wash over him. A cool, ungloved hand rested on his forehead as Katsumi-sensei peered into his eyes searchingly.

"Hmm, no fever and you don't seemed to be poisoned, I always poison my sebon needles, even if it's not a fatal poison."

Snape snorted from his post in the doorway, "~Well then Mr. Potter is lucky he wasn't fighting you, Sumi-chan. Come on, he's awake now, let's pack up his room and get going. ~" Giving Harry one more long look, Katsumi checked the healing puncture wounds and was satisfied that her apprentice was recovering nicely. Harry however was in a state of shock as his sensei stood up and ruffled his hair, not even batting her hand away. He was too busy staring in horror at Snape, who had not only spoken their language, but had used a nickname for his teacher, and an affectionate suffix. Just what had happened while he was asleep? Ikko hopped back on his bed and gave a wide foxy grin, mouth hanging open in a silent laugh.

The room was quickly packed up thanks to Severus' use of magic and Katsumi's cheerful packing speed. Harry sat bemusedly on his bed as his sensei ordered him to stay put as they packed, and petted Ikko with his right hand, his left arm being occupied by Hedwig. When the two familiars had met earlier that summer they had been wary of each other, but Hedwig's offering of a stoat and Ikko's gift of a large rat had made the two allies, if not friends.

"Potter's trunk is warded against magical tampering of any kind, so I can't do anything," Snape said grumpily to Katsumi-sensei, who just smiled in turn.

"If I couldn't carry this little thing, I'd offer myself up to the Hunter-nin right now to be chopped up and burnt. No, just make me a sash, blue if you could Severus-kun?" She batted her laughing blue eyes at Snape, who to Harry's continuing shock, gave a snort that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Snape transfigured a stray sock that escaped the packing into a long, cotton sash of the exact color of her mostly blue outfit. Katsumi-sensei accepted it with thanks, and looped it around the trunk so that when she stood, his sensei carried it easily on his back, though it was only a foot and a half off from being her height. It would have been comical, but Harry was unsure whether laughter was even permitted around Snape.

Katsumi sighed inwardly again, her apprentice was on edge and Severus wasn't any more comfortable. Well there was a way to fix that, she thought wickedly.

"Come Harry, we're going to _walk_ out of the rooms today," she said, giving an extra emphasis. Harry quickly picked up on this, and nodded as innocently as he could. Hedwig left out the window first, and Ikko hopped onto Katsumi-sensei's shoulders, wrapping like a scarf. Snape gave them a suspicious look, but followed the two to the living room.

"After you gaki," Katsumi-sensei said gesturing grandly at the window. Harry heard, with satisfaction, Snape's shout of surprise as the teacher and student hopped out the window and began walking down the tower wall. Ha, that'd teach Snape to freak him out with his friendship with his sensei!

"Well meet you at the entrance Severus-kun!" Katsumi called back. Ah yes, the start of a beautiful friendship.

So whatcha think? R and R


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Birthdays, Dancing, and Danger Oh My!

Disclaimer- No not mine, blah blah, and onto a long chapter!

Severus was visibly upset with their little stunt, and was eloquent in expressing himself. Katsumi however knew a sure way to stop him, as she flung her arms around him and cooed how glad she was that Severus cared so much. This caused him to flush darkly, much to her and Harry's amusement. Trying to regain a shred of control, Severus instructed the two of them to hold onto one of his arms, and with a pop, the trio vanished.

Being squeezed through a tube is just as unpleasant as it sounds, Katsumi thought, though she was too well trained to show any signs of discomfort. Harry however was still in training though, so Katsumi forgave his show of it.

"~Sensei, I 'd like to learn how to do the leaf transportation jutsu you use. It's much more comfortable than apperation. ~" Harry commented mildly, but his face was tinged with green.

"~Hai gaki, we'll get to that eventually. Perfect your water walking and we'll move your training more in the direction of speed and transportation jutsus. That would help you fastest, and I'll add some power moves if you master it quickly enough. ~" Harry was surprised she'd given him this much into her training plans, as Katsumi-sensei usually just twinkled like the Headmaster and left him frustrated when he asked something she didn't want to answer. Harry often wondered if Dumbledoor had more of a hand in his sensei's selection than his letter let on, with the half answers and twinkling eyes.

"Ehmp," Snape cleared his throat to catch their attention again, and held out a scrap of paper with these words on them-

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at number twelve Grimmauld Place._

As soon as the two read the words, they looked up at the empty lot. Make that formerly empty lot; Harry thought in amazement as a dark, gloomy house appeared. Snape led the way to the forbidding house, Harry following closely behind his teachers. He unconsciously scanned the perimeter; his hands near his weapons but held casually. Making sure his attention never stayed overly long in one place, Harry kept scanning the sides, air above, and ground below. Though while doing so he missed his sensei's proud look for his vigilance.

As the three of them entered the house Snape motioned them to be quiet, but the emergence of a good deal of redheads, one bushy brown haired head, a pink shock of hair, and a sweeping black haired figures seemed to make that a moot point. All of who seemed to feel the need to touch Harry and exclaim over the differences in his appearance.

Harry saw Katsumi-sensei casually set his trunk down, now ready to more easily defend him against the horde of people descending on him, and he subtly shook his head. He really didn't want his sensei harming his friends, even if they were oblivious to the danger they were landing them selves in.

The unfortunate part of this otherwise happy reunion was that the infamous portrait of Sirius' mother was awoken, her moth-eaten curtains flying open.

"NOISY FILTH CORRUPTING THE HONORABLE HOME OF THE BLACKS! AND MORE ARE HERE," the evil looking portrait screeched, eyeballing Harry and Katsumi-sensei. His sensei was of course intrigued and moved forward to observe it more closely, as she liked to talk to the portraits at Hogwarts and had no doubt not met one as rude as this one.

"ANOTHER VILE MUDBLOOD HERE," the portrait continued to rage, glaring at Katsumi-sensei.

"Actually I haven't a drop of your precious magic in me," his sensei replied cheerfully, continuing her examination. Sirius' mother looked more disgusted and angered than ever before, and renewed her rant in righteous rage.

"WORSE, A WORTHLESS MUGGLE NOW ENTERS MY HOME! NO HONOR IS LEFT TO THE PLACE OF THE GREATEST OF PUREBLOODS!" The deranged portrait continued to scream, but Katsumi-sensei had tuned her out at this point and turned to Snape.

"Severus-kun, why has no one removed this annoying portrait? I thought your oh-so-wonderful magic could take care of an old hack of magic." This only enraged Mrs. Black, being referred to in such a manner by a muggle, making her continued to shriek as now Sirius and Tonks were attempting to close the curtains.

"Many attempts of removal have been made, from magic to simply burning her. Nothings worked so far, so we just try to close her up quickly." Snape was also ignoring the vulgar abuse the portrait lauded on him, acting as nonchalant as Katsumi-sensei.

"Hmm," was the only response from Katsumi-sensei, before she made a quick series of hand seals, pulled down her mask, and spat mud at the portrait! Sirius and Tonks jumped back in surprise, and turned as one to stare at Katsumi-sensei, who had pulled up her mask again. Inwardly Harry smacked himself and the tall redheads around him; he'd missed seeing what his sensei's face looked like again.

The mud congealed and covered the portrait, so that Mrs. Black's shrieks couldn't be heard any more, and took on a stone-like cast. Tentatively Tonks knocked on it, and was surprised how solid it felt, and gave Katsumi-sensei a strange look, one of thanks, surprise, and to Harry's surprise, fear. He knew his sensei would have seen it too, but saw she was going to ignore it.

"Maa maa, that's pretty ugly I know, but it's better than trying to tip-toe around a crazy dead woman. Pull the curtains over it and no one will notice it." Katsumi turned back to the assembled group and let her eyes twinkle with mischief at them. Harry knew right then the twins were probably in love. "Now who's going to tell me and Harry-kun here where our rooms are?"

Sirius seemed to push his questions aside for now in favor of greeting Harry and their guest, and ignoring Snape. However, when he tried to lift Harry's trunk to take it up stairs to the third floor where Katsumi-sensei and Harry were going to live, he couldn't budge it. Harry watched, trying not to laugh as Sirius tried to lighten it, levitate it, and as a last ditch effort, shrink it to no avail. Then as easily as you please, Katsumi-sensei hefted the trunk onto her shoulder, careful of the dozing fox still wrapped around her neck. So with sparkling eyes, Harry saw her nod to his godfather, and Sirius dazedly led the way to their rooms.

Since Snape had disappeared into a room on the first floor, Harry assumed he wouldn't be living near him, and was glad of it. He wasn't sure how long he could stand the strained civility the two of them had around his sensei. Heck, Harry was sure it'd give Snape an aneurysm to continue to be polite to Harry Bloody James Sodding Potter. Pausing in front of the first door on the floor, Harry began to listen to what Sirius was saying.

"Ah, this room can be for you Harry or you Miss Hatake," Sirius said, indicating to a shabby door that once had a nameplate and was highly polished.

"I'll take that one Black-san, and please, its just Katsumi." His sensei set down the trunk once more and snapped it's wheels on again so Harry could move it him self. "Go on Harry-kun, catch up with your godfather. I want you to take the rest of the day off from training." Harry looked shocked at her, and she continued, smiling gently at him. "You used your training credibly Harry-kun, and I want those punctures to heal up. Oh, but you do have to wear your weights, just not the arm ones." Harry sighed a bit, well at least that hadn't changed. Katsumi-sensei just smiled at him, and nabbed the twins who were idling nearby, dragging them into her room to un-shrink her things and set up her room. Harry caught sight of the twins face; overjoyed was the only word for their expressions.

Wheeling his trunk to the second door, Sirius opened it for Harry, and quickly shut it behind once the two of them were inside. Before Harry could wonder why, his godfather swept him into a bear hug, holding him tightly.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't go to help you Harry, Dumbledoor," here the hug tightened even more, "said that teacher of yours would keep you safe and here you are injured."

Harry gently pushed his godfather off and looked sternly at him, to Sirius' surprise. "Katsumi-sensei isn't at fault for my injury, she took out most of the ten Death Eaters and protected me and Snape." Sirius sneered at the mention of the potions master, and it was obvious that he thought she should have left Snape to fend for him self and only watch out for Harry. But one glance at the resolved look on Harry's face, Sirius knew better than to start again. However Dumbledoor would be hearing about his displeasure in the next Order meeting.

Harry knew the matter was far from over for Sirius, but Harry refused to have anyone talk bad about the one person that was actually trying to get him ready to survive Voldemort instead of trying to coddle him. So Harry switched topics to pranks and what to play over the summer, and the best way to engage the twins in a prank war. Sirius predictably jumped on this new topic with enthusiasm, and the two passed a comfortable hour or so until they were called down for lunch.

Katsumi-sensei was comfortably sandwiched between the Weasly twins, discussing the merits between magical pranks and purely muggle ones. Snape sat across them, occasionally throwing in a comment on how to mix the two, which seemed to disconcert the twins a bit, but they shook it off. Harry felt the oddest feeling; jealousy, for his sensei was there just for him for over a month and he felt rather possessive. As if sensing his feelings, which he figured she probably did, Katsumi-sensei looked strait up at him and her eyes crinkled in an understanding smile.

"Scoot over Fred-kun, I have to stick my deshi next to me and make sure he eats right." She said, nudging a twin; which one it was Harry couldn't yet tell.

"I'm George, honestly woman, and you call yourself observant?" Protested the scooting twin.

Katsumi-sensei just rolled her eyes, "No, you're Fred, don't even try that on me, it won't work. I have a twin brother of my own, so I can just tell the differences." Actually Harry knew she was looking at their chakra, but one thing he had learned the quickest, and most easily, was to keep secrets. The twins, if it were possible, looked even more smitten with his sensei, and Harry concealed a smirk as he dropped down next to her. Absently she ruffled his hair, and as usual, Harry batted her hand away and re-adjusted his ponytail. This motion however caught Mrs. Weasly's attention as she set the table with sandwiches and pumpkin juice.

"Oh Harry dear, after lunch maybe I could give you a hair cut, that long hair in a ponytail no less…" Mrs. Weasly said, trailing off disapprovingly. Harry just smiled apologetically at the Weasly matriarch and shook his head.

"Sorry Mrs. Weasly, but I like my hair this way, and I'm hoping to grow it longer."

"Besides, it gives me something to pull when Harry-kun annoys me," Katsumi-sensei added, while pouring some pumpkin juice for Harry, as he got a turkey sandwich for sensei and a ham one for himself. Harry knew her own hair was a point of pride for Katsumi-sensei, the long silver bangs falling over her Konohagakure headband and long silver hair in a French braid down to her thighs, and she liked how Harry's spiky black hair reminded her of her twin brother. After seeing a picture of him in her study Harry knew his hair was nothing to worry about; his wasn't nearly as wild as Katsumi-sensei's twin's gravity defying silver hair.

Mrs. Weasly just sighed and went back towards the kitchen, mumbling about bad influences, glancing back pointedly at Katsumi-sensei and her prominent red tattoo on her right arm. Katsumi-sensei politely pretended she could neither hear nor see Mrs. Weasly's actions, and Harry began to feel irritable with his mother figure; what was with the other adults need to criticize his sensei? The tattoo was from Katsumi-sensei's time as an ANBU captain, and after she told him this Katsumi-sensei swore him to silence. Because technically the ANBU corps didn't exist in the Hidden Villages, like the Unspeakables in the Ministry of Magic.

It was late that night, while most of the household was asleep, that Harry woke to hearing his door open. In padded Ikko, who held a note in his mouth, presumably from Katsumi-sensei. Harry accepted it sleepily, rubbing Ikko's head in thanks and read it in a patch of moonlight.

_Order meeting been call, will start soon. I will try to get Dumbledoor-dono to include you, but he most likely won't. Ikko will breech the anti-listening wards, use the Extendable Ear the twins made. I "borrowed" one, it's around Ikko's neck._

_Wakey, wakey gaki_

Harry didn't bother changing from his pajamas; the whole point was to remain not seen any way. Unwrapping the ear from the fox's neck, Harry followed him out of the room. But as the fox-summon leapt lightly down the stairs, Harry focused his chakra into his feet and began walking up the wall. Once he was securely rooted to the ceiling, Harry casually strolled over to the kitchen door, noting the light coming from under it as the place. Using one of the curtains covering another disreputable portrait, Harry carefully slide the Ear down to the spot where Ikko pushed through, scratched the door, and was let in by a surprised Bill Weasly. The following meeting would severely test the young wizard's, and fledgling shinobi, focus and patience greatly.

"Welcome friends, and thank you for coming on such short notice. As you all know-," here the wise old voice that was undoubtedly Dumbledoor's broke off. "Yes Hatake-san?" Here the light alto of his sensei came through gracefully.

"Harry should be present for these meetings. If this is his support and aid in the fight against this Voldemort," Harry could almost see the flinches at the name, "then he should know who is supporting him. Also, he is in the greatest danger, and can no longer be afforded ignorance." Several voice quickly objected to this, though one was the loudest and most insistent.

"He's just a boy, the same age as my own youngest boy! There's no need to burden him with the work of adults." Harry could practically see Mrs. Weasly glaring at his sensei.

"He's going to be a dead boy if you carry on much longer this way-" The rest of whatever his teacher was going to say was lost in a torrent of angry voices. Dumbledoor's voice cut through, and closed the matter, stating that the 'time was not right' to involve Harry. This made Harry irritated, but he was glad at his teacher's insistence, and blatant disregard for whatever the outcome was, as demonstrated with her informing him with Ikko. With this to cheer him up, Harry focused back on the meeting.

"Well, as I was saying, there was an attack at Hogwarts today on Harry and Hatake-san. The two of them are fine with minor injuries, and out of the ten Death Eaters that attacked; only three are alive to tell the tale. This only proves that the hiring and training by a ninja for Harry was the best course of action, as it was those two alone who neutralized the attackers." The slightly smug tone and the rather disgruntle silence that followed made Harry smirk and feel a surge of gratitude to the old Headmaster, as he had brought his sensei to him.

"Well if this ninja of yours was so good then why was Harry injured at all? Sounds more incompetent to me than anything." Came a voice, hoarsened by too long in Azkaban…Sirius was saying the terrible things about sensei! And worse, a few others murmured in assent.

"We'd like to see…"

"You gits do any…."

"Better than 'Sumi…"

"Which isn't likely…"

"Very true Gred my good man." Harry smiled at the twins' defense of his sensei, making him glad that he decided to give his prize winnings to them. The quickly becoming shrill voice of Mrs. Weasly scolded the twins for speaking to the others like that, but they sounded distinctly unrepentant. The smooth and dangerously low voice of the potions master cut in at this point.

"And as I was the only one from the other side now available to speak on the decidedly one-sided fight, none of you fools, the Headmaster excluded, would have stood a chance against Katsumi-chan. No not even you Minerva, Moody. While Potter did account for a few of the Death Eaters, Katsumi took out most of them, and identified me and incapacitated me without causing me any injury at all." Harry could have sworn he heard someone say 'pity', but couldn't pinpoint whom the voice belonged to.

"While I am glad for my friends' defense, it was sloppy of me to allow the Death thingies close enough to harm Harry-kun. Though truly," and a hint of the cold voice entered her voice, "how many of you could have faced ten of your Death Eaters with a young person partially trained, and come away with a scratch or two?" A heavy silence came over the group, and Harry was glad that the thought process had started and they'd stopped talking out of their rears.

"Enough of that kind of talk, I am pleased with your work Hatake-san, and since I am your employer and not the Order as a whole, I have the last say in the matter." The glare was noticeable in Dumbledoor's voice. "Just keep up the excellent work with Harry's training. Also, the room you requested is an old ballroom on this floor, past the portraits' hall. I believe I know the level of strength a chuunin can exert, but I would advise caution."

"Well if we manage to knock a hole in a wall or two that's what all you wand wavers are there for." His sensei replied cheerfully, all hints of the killer that she was gone from her voice, and as for her face… well Harry doubted anyone in that room could read her expressions anyway. The meeting seemed to be breaking up after a few more reports, nothing of interest coming up.

Reeling the Ear back up, Harry pulled back into a shadowy corner, but stayed to see who would emerge from the room. A tall black man entered the darkened hallway first, speaking to Professor McGonagall. The twins came out next, quickly heading up the stair, their mother hot on their heels; Mr. Weasly trailing behind tiredly. Bill Weasly came out after a few more witches and wizard came out that Harry didn't know, with Ikko on his shoulder. The little red fox gave him an affectionate nip on the ear, and hopped off, bounding up the stairs to bed. Bill just shrugged, and headed to the apparation point. Lastly Dumbledoor, Katsumi-sensei, and Snape left the kitchen, bidding each other goodnight and head in three directions. Katsumi-sensei looked at his corner and winked at him, no doubt sensing his chakra signature. This was his sign to head back to his room, and Harry made his way back carefully, though as his sensei often said "Nobody looks up", held true.

The next few weeks would have given a family counselor migraines. For that's what the inhabitants of number twelve Grimmauld Place were to each other, really messed up family members. The Weasly twins learned very quickly that there was no way that they could ever wake up early enough to wake Katsumi-sensei, which led Harry to wonder again if sensei slept at all. Also that entering her room was hazardous to their health, as she had many traps, in varying degrees of severity. Mrs. Weasly would grumble under her breath every meal, as Harry dragged himself in from another grueling workout/training session, or had to skip out on the cleansing of the Black home to study a scroll or another book. But Katsumi-sensei's training trumped Mrs. Weasly's wishes on every occasion.

Hermione tried, and failed, to read over Harry's shoulder and was terribly disappointed that Harry was learning something she couldn't, and when she asked, wouldn't tell her. Ron's jealousy over his extra training, his beautiful sensei, and the fact Harry was becoming more powerful, led to an icy separation between the Golden Trio. This bothered Harry so much that Katsumi-sensei halted mid-punch, and lectured him sternly about not letting his emotions affect him in a fight. Also, she added, if they had such a problem over something so small, then what good were they as comrades? Harry felt shinobi training wasn't such a small matter, but understood where his teacher was coming from. Ninja trained, and did missions that they could never share with friends, family or lovers, so Harry would just sigh a little inwardly when Ron or Hermione would avoid him. Ikko stuck with him most of the time anyway, only lured away upon occasion by Remus.

His honorary godfather had somehow attracted the attention of the little fox, and Harry suspected it had something to do with Moony, his wolfish side. All Harry knew was that one morning after the full moon, a tired, yet happy Remus came up stairs, dropped down next to his sensei and began serving them both some bacon and scrambled eggs.

Snape was in and out of the house, though he never seemed to make it through a day without being attacked by Katsumi-sensei. When a particularly rowdy song came on the radio one day over lunch Katsumi-sensei grabbed Snape and began dancing with the bewildered man. After releasing him the twins descended on her and the three of them danced together until the kitchen was filled with dancing and laughing people. This seemed to signal a truce between the Golden Trio, and they began to interact tentatively again. So at random intervals Snape could be stalking through the house, only to be attacked by a flying hug from Katsumi-sensei or something equally unexpected.

However the worst tension in the house came from between Sirius and Katsumi-sensei. The two would not agree on Harry at all; Sirius want to protect him and keep him out of danger, while Katsumi-sensei insisted that getting him ready to find and face the danger head on, on Harry's own terms was the way to go. The argument usually went like this-

"I'm his godfather and I say what's best!"

"Well I'm his sensei and I don't give a damn about what you say." That's probably what got Sirius most, Harry reflected. While Sirius would get worked up and holler, Katsumi-sensei would remain calm, even amused. After those two lines, everyone living in the Black home knew they would degrade into name calling, and to stay out of the way if Sirius started to fling curses and Katsumi-sensei would run away laughing. Once, Remus tried to intervene, only to be jumped over and then hit by a boil-inducing hex. After that, everyone just ducked into a room until the two passed.

All in all, Harry felt he and his sensei were settling in quite well.

Harry met his first male shinobi a week and a half after the attack at the school. It was during a light lunch, while Katsumi-sensei bound up his wounds and ate. This of course made Mrs. Weasly glare darkly at his sensei, muttering as she cleaned the kitchen. Neither student nor teacher gave this any heed, though Harry knew this kind of thing was the reason that Katsumi-sensei hadn't wanted to train him with the other Order members around. And it really wasn't all that bad; he just needed to react a little quicker. Any other thoughts Harry had on the matter were brought to a screeching halt as a scowling Snape came into the room, followed by the strangest person Harry had ever seen in his life.

"AH KATSUMI MY ETERNALLY BELOVED AND BRIDE-TO-BE! HOW WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU IN THE SPRINGTIIME OF YOUR YOUTH, AND YOUR YOUTHFUL NEW STUDENT!" Boomed a tall man in a green spandex outfit, a Konoha headband around his waist, bowl cut hair, and disturbing eyebrows. He flashed a huge grin at Harry's sensei, who was to Harry's surprise was banging her head on the table, muttering darkly.

"Bride?" Coursed twin voices in dismay. Katsumi-sensei's head shot up off the table and she shook her head frantically at them, but it was too late. The spandex wearing man beamed at them and continued to bellow an explanation.

"IN THE BEAUTIFUL SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH, MY ESTEMED FATHER AND MY YOUTHFUL KATSUMI'S FATHER PROMISED THAT THEIR FIRST BORN CHILDREN WOULD WED! SO ONE DAY MY YOUTHFUL LOVE AND I WILL BE JOINED IN MATRIMONY!" He left off there, crying manly tears of joy in a sunset background that came out of nowhere. Katsumi-sensei continued to bang her head on the table, a dent beginning to form.

"But what if Miss Hatake's father's firstborn had been a boy?" Hermione asked curious. Both Katsumi and Gai looked at her oddly, Gai's face nonplus and Katsumi-sensei's cocked to the side.

"Why would that matter?" Katsumi-sensei asked in return. Hermione just turned red and mumbled 'nothing' quietly. Harry filed that away, but was still stuck on the main issue.

"Erm, Katsumi-sensei is that true? You're really going to marry him?" Asked Harry hesitantly. Harry felt that marriage to a lunatic was incredibly unfair just because some stupid promise made before you were born.

"After a fashion it's true Harry-kun," she said with a sigh, lifting her head and propping her hand under her chin. "Our fathers were celebrating a successful mission and were drunk out of their minds. So a promise made while drunk doesn't hold much water, but Gai, oh that's Matio Gai if you were wondering what his name was, has clung to the idea of marrying me since our academy days. Don't worry though, my brother took care of that." At the questioning looks, some tinged with desperation, Katsumi-sensei elaborated. "My twin brother Kakashi challenged Gai to defeat him in 100 different challenges and then he could marry me, and Gai has yet to defeat him in more than ten."

"I SHALL PREVAIL AGAINST MY ETERNAL RIVAL, NEVER FEAR MY YOUTHFUL BELOVED!" Again with the flashing grin and freaky sunset background. This seemed to make Katsumi-sensei snap, and she began to leak killer intent. The Weaslys who had never experienced this felt chilled and cowed, Snape was a bit less disconcerted as Voldemort did something similar, and Harry was fine as this was something Katsumi-sensei taught him to counter early in his training. Unfortunately for Gai-san, he seemed oblivious to his impending doom.

"I was feeling the need to pulverize something," she said in a dangerous monotone, and grabbed Gai-san by the belt and began towing him out towards the back yard. "And some how I figured students shouldn't be their teacher's punching bag. But you Gai," and evil glint entered her usually happy blue eyes, "are a perfect punching bag." With that she flung the other shinobi in front of her, and he took up a fighting stance that Harry hadn't seen before.

"HAHAHA LET US DANCE ONCE MORE MY BELOVED IN THE YOUTHFUL DANCE OF HARD FIST AND THE GENTLE FIST STYLES!" This man was suicidal, was Harry's only thought as his sensei got into the stance that Harry recognized as the Juuyken gentle fist style. Harry absently noted that the audience from the kitchen had grown to include Remus and Sirius, but focused on the fight as Gai-san charged forward.

Katsumi-sensei blocked his first punch with ease, and gracefully ducked under the follow-up kick. She hadn't however anticipated Gai-san hooking back with his foot, making her lose her balance and to flip forward one handed. She shifted her spine with a loud crack that made the watchers wince, and smirked at Gai-san, motioning for him to continue. He came again, but Harry got the distinct feeling he was checking his sensei's defense with his flurry of punches and kicks.

"Come on Gai, get in the game! Where's all that youthful spirit crap you keep babbling about?" Katsumi-sensei jeered playfully, and Harry began to fear for the man in spandex's life. What was fun for Katsumi-sensei while training was usually detrimental to the other person's health. And with a blindingly fast spinning kick, Katsumi-sensei sent Gai-san flying back, his feet skidding along the water's surface to regain his balance. Harry saw his sensei's stance change again, as she moved to one of her favorite offensive styles and charged Gai-san.

"Kat-

Su-

Mi-"

"Barrage of Lions," she yelled as she landed a series of fast kicks and punches on Gai-san, sending him flying every which way, only to end him flying in the end upward. The onlookers, minus Harry, were horrified to see that the man Gai was bruised and bleeding from several places and were calling to the two fighting to make them stop. Harry ignored them all even as Hermione turned to him indignantly.

"Harry do something about this! Your insane teacher is going to kill that man!" Harry raised an eyebrow at her, unconsciously mimicking Snape, who saw the action and was disturbed to say the least.

"Why he's not hurt much at all Hermione, don't worry. Katsumi-sensei wouldn't get that carried away." Hermione was unsatisfied with that answer, and sulked near Mrs. Weasly, who was watching in horrified disapproval.

This continued for another minute or two, Katsumi-sensei seemingly having the upper hand, when Gai-san began a move that Katsumi-sensei told him was a lead into a much more dangerous set of moves, of which she refused to teach him.

"Shadow Dance of the Leaf, sixteen moves!" Cried Gai-san, a serious look on his face. Katsumi-sensei seemed shocked, and that slowed her reaction time to the blows falling on her. Harry noticed one hit her windpipe as Katsumi-sensei began to open her mouth to speak, cutting off her voice with a grunt of pain.

"First Gate open: Stamina Gate!" Came Gai-san's voice, and he began to glow with chakra, renewing his attack on Katsumi-sensei. Moments after Katsumi-sensei began to cough up blood, which stained her mask, Harry decided to step in and damn the consequences. Just then a huge kick sent Katsumi-sensei flying back, and Harry caught her in his arms, digging in his feet to stay upright while sliding back several feet. Seeing that Gai-san was charging forward, Harry bellowed the first thing that came to mind.

"~STOP YOU SPANDEX WEARING IDIOT! ~" This surprisingly halted Gai-san, who shook his head and stared at Harry, who was still holding his bloody sensei. Gai-san's eyes seemed to focus on Katsumi-sensei's bruised and blood soaked form, and he moved forward in horror.

"PLEASE FORGIVE ME MY YOUTHFUL BELOVED! IN OUR FIERCE CHALLENGE OF YOUTHFUL STRENGTH AND ENTHUSIASM I FORGOT MY SELF AND WHO MY OPPONET WAS!" Seeing that Katsumi-sensei was on her feet again and was waving off the help, Gai-san seemed to move a little hesitantly toward her. Which seemed justified as once he was in range, Katsumi-sensei gave a Gai-san a slap upside his head, making it rock forward sharply.

"You better be damn sorry! You're just lucky I didn't forget myself and chidori your sorry arse! What were you thinking opening the gates during a friendly match?" Privately the others didn't think it looked all that friendly, but wanted nothing to do with the two crazy ninjas right now.

Gai-san mumbled a few more incoherent apologies and explanations, but by now Katsumi-sensei was ignoring him. She coughed a few more times and spat out a large amount of blood, making her grimace. Suddenly an evil light lit her eyes, and Harry got a sinking feeling in his stomach as Katsumi-sensei eyed him and Gai-san.

"Hey, here's how you can make it up to me Gai-" who promptly interrupted by Gai-san promising to do anything. "Yeah whatever, shut up a sec, will you?" Apparently when hurt sensei gets grouchy, Harry thought. Or maybe it was just a side effect from being around Gai-san?

"You're here for a few days right?"

"YES MY BELOVED AND I WILL-"

"Shut up, seriously. Well since I'm pretty sure you broke a couple of my ribs and cracked a few more, you will have to take over my student's training while I heal up. Ikko can fill you in." With that she began to trek slowly toward the house, a concerned potions master tailing her with the Weasly twins offering their support to the injured young woman.

"But sensei-" Harry began, looking horrified between the wide grin of Gai-san and his limping sensei. His sensei just gave him an evil smile.

"Gai is the foremost taijutsu specialist in Konohagakure Harry-kun, so a few days with him will do you a world of good." She then continued toward the house, allowing the twins to support her on each side. Remus looked torn, between staying with his honorary godson and following Katsumi-sensei. Eventually he settled down next to Ikko to watch the maniac and his godson.

Inside the house Severus with the twins were having no luck in getting Katsumi to even agree to go to the Hogwarts infirmary. Katsumi was adamantly against it, and finally Severus snapped and asked why she was being so stubborn.

"I can't have people see me laid up in a hospital! I need to show that I'm fine to keep Harry safe. Besides," she added, "I can't stand hospitals." Nothing more was said on the topic, and Severus just sighed and began to repair her ribs and other various injuries the best he could with the Weasly twins' assistance.

Harry was in hell and it was all sensei's fault. Sure it was only the forth day he had training with Gai-sensei, but the man was insane. He'd doubled the amount of weight Harry was wearing, and was training him in solely taijutsu, which was taking a huge toll on Harry's body. His sensei however was not sympathetic in the least and told him that he could learn a lot from Gai. Harry noticed however she did not say this in Gai-sensei's hearing range.

"Dinnertime Harry dear, and Mr. Maito!" Mrs. Weasly called from the kitchen door. With an inward sigh of relief, Harry finished executing the final moves to the Shadow Dance of the Leaf, which Gai-sensei had finally prevailed on Katsumi-sensei to let Harry learn it.

"WELL DONE YOUTHFUL STUDENT OF MY DARLING KATSUMI! I RELEASE YOU TO ENJOY WEASLY-SAN'S EXCELLENT COOKING!" The man was trying on the nerves, and Harry could now see why Katsumi-sensei had reacted the way she did to him the first day Gai-sensei had shown up.

The aromas from the kitchen smelt heavenly to Harry after an incredibly long day of training. Ikko had saved him a seat across from Katsumi-sensei and in-between Ron and Sirius. Who both looked shocked at Harry's bedraggled self.

"Harry-kun, you may want to wash up first, you look like you've been dragged backward through the whole of the Fire Country and then beaten by thieves," his sensei informed him cheerfully. Groaning, Harry followed her advice, and after the mirror in the bathroom told him to get some medical help, redid the bandages on his arms, hands and legs, all of which were covered in cuts and bruises. Few of which were there before Gai-sensei's arrival. As he shuffled back, he caught the tail end of his sensei's question.

"-About your own team?" 'That nut had his own team? Who in their right mind would give Gai-sensei a team?' Thought Harry incredulously. The spandex wearing man just smiled blindingly, and gave his teacher thumbs up.

"FEAR NOT BELOVED YOUTHFUL BEAUTY, I LEFT MY PRECIOUS TEAM IN THE CARE OF HYUUGA WASHIMARU! HE WILL LEAD THEM WELL IN MY ABSENCE!" Harry caught what sounded like a snort from his teacher, though Harry felt a bit left out again. Though he understood his teacher the best, he felt, out of anyone there, things and people would come up between Gai-sensei and Katsumi-sensei, which Harry didn't know. He felt very left out at those times. Dinner finished in a curious silence, only broken by Katsumi-sensei and Gai-sensei's talk, which they'd slipped into their native tongue, and even Harry and Severus didn't understand what they were talking about.

Late that evening, as Harry was studying a scroll on Kirigakure techniques, he heard Gai-sensei and Katsumi-sensei speaking in quiet voice near the study he was currently in. That in its self was amazing, Harry didn't think Gai-sensei could speak in a level quieter than a bellow. And Katsumi-sensei usually was hitting him during their conversations. Harry scooted closer to catch what he could of this novel conversation.

"-Leaving soon?" Katsumi said, her voice blank of any intonation. Gai gave a small smile, as he knew her and her twin better than almost anyone, and knew that she would miss him.

"Unfortunately yes, I have to return home soon. I got here as fast as I could so I spend more time with you, but I do have my responsibilities at home. I'll be leaving tonight after midnight." Harry heard Katsumi-sensei sigh, and the rustle of scrolls.

"Here's my report to Hokage-sama, and this is a letter to Kakashi. I guess no one else gets to know where I am unless they're assigned to do courier duty to me huh?"

"Well you are on an unranked mission, it's a need to know basis of course. I can tell our friends you're alive though, so that should help. I wouldn't have even gotten this mission since I had a team if I hadn't begged Sandaime-sama." Katsumi-sensei gave a small laugh and Harry heard a rustle of cloth against cloth. Outside the study, Katsumi hugged Gai, suddenly deeply homesick. Releasing him after a moment, she shoved the useless emotion away.

"You better get moving, it's a long way home," Katsumi said softly. Harry assumed Gai-sensei nodded, as he heard footsteps headed away.

"Stay alive beloved," Gai said gently, looking adoringly at his first and only love.

Katsumi gave him her patented eyes-smile, and replied, "You too Gai." As he left silently, Katsumi wondered whether or not to call her gaki on his spying, and decided not to. She'd had enough of people to night and just wanted to sleep and dream of home.

"Again Harry, more power!" Called his sensei, book in one hand, the other arm held loosely. For what felt like the millionth time that day, Harry focused his chakra in his legs and sped forward to deliver a kick to his sensei's unguarded head. And again he was blocked and flung away like a doll.

"Get whatever is on your mind off it now Harry, you're too distracted to do any damage." His sensei said calmly, turning a page on her book. Frustrated, Harry concentrated his anger at his sensei, one for this frustrating exercise, and two, for forgetting his birthday. He didn't even consider that she didn't know it; that would be totally unlike her not to know something so important. What he and his sensei didn't see until too late was the sudden huge build up of chakra a split second before Harry's kick connected with Katsumi-sensei's blocking arm. In horror Harry saw his sensei go flying _through the wall _and slam into the next wall, leaving a sensei-shaped impact spot. People from all over the house came running at the sound, knowing it was different than the normal booming noises. Snape was there first as his rooms were closest, and gaped in shock at the hole in the wall, Katsumi-sensei beaming and dusting the wreckage of the wall off herself, and the still stunned Harry. Sirius was also struck by the sight of the destruction, as were the rest of the household as they arrived.

"Excellent job Harry, well done at disguising the gathering of your chakra until the last second. That'd be the greatest advantage in a battle, I mean even I didn't suspect it." She gently tugged his four-inch long braid, snapping him out of his shock. "Hey I'm fine gaki, no worries here. Oh, and," here Katsumi-sensei dug into her back pouch that usually housed her book, and withdrew a foot long stick with a strap attached to both ends that he didn't even want to think on how that fit in her pouch. "This is for you Harry-kun, or did you think I forgot your birthday?" Harry took it, studying it intently. Then with a gasp, he guessed what it was, daring to look at his sensei, who's eyes sparkled at him brightly. Not even remembering their audience, Harry pulled on the end of the cylinder and withdrew a bright silver blade of chakra.

"~The Light Blade is a secret of the Hatake clan, and only members of our family carry them. However, I consider you Harry-kun to be a little brother, and I know my twin would feel the same. It would be my honor to invite you to my clan. ~" No one knew, except Severus that is, what exactly it was that made Harry's eyes tear up and make him leap at his teacher for a hug, but they all realized something special had occurred. Severus just smiled, very minutely you understand, at the two, and then cleared his throat to break in.

"Well unless you're looking to break a few more walls before breakfast I suggest you to go eat, an leave the repairing to those of us who are actually useful." Harry noted that though it was said sarcastically, the malice and bite were completely gone. Katsumi-sensei just laughed, looped an arm around Harry's shoulders, and gave Snape a kiss on the cheek as she passed, thanking him. Snape face became tinged with pink, and those around them looked slightly ill, or in the twins' case, jealous. Severus waved off the offers to help repair the walls; he wanted time to think about what he had just seen and heard.

Breakfast was an extravagant affair, full of happy, celebrating people. Lunch was lighter in accounting of the huge dinner coming up. Katsumi-sensei released Harry for the rest of the day to play with his friends, a few games of Quidditch, Exploding Snap, and wizard's chess. The highlight of the wizard chess games was when Ron finally cajoled Katsumi-sensei to play with him, even though she'd never played chess before. It was to everyone's shock that after nearly an hour of play, Katsumi-sensei won. When it was demanded how she did this, Harry's sensei merely shrugged and said,

"I fight for a living, so I would be all kinds of dead if I couldn't play to the strengths of imamate pieces." This reminded everyone there, that the quirky, cheerful person they'd come to know really was a mercenary, not just an eccentric muggle. Well Harry was reminded of that every day, and Severus had seen first hand how deadly she was.

Dinner was an even more boisterous event, with a large sheet cake and fifteen candles and many renditions of the birthday song. There were presents from everyone, even a book of simplified potions from Snape. Thanking everyone, Harry carried his gifts upstairs, only to be accosted at the doorway by the Weasly twins, both grinning ear to ear.

"Well young Harrikins…"

"Forge and I felt that…."

"An excursion of sorts…."

"Was in order on this…."

"The day of your birth."

"So let's get your…."

"Absolutely lovely…"

"Incredibly brilliant…"

"Wonderfully protective…"

"Bodyguard to agree…"

"**And then we're golden.**"

The twins finished in unison, and threw duel hopeful looks at Katsumi-sensei, as Harry added his. Laughingly, his sensei raised her hands in defeat.

"I give in, we'll go as long as another adult wants to go as well. Severus, Remus, or how about you Mrs. Weasly?"

"Oh well this place won't clean up it's self, and I don't feel this is a good idea. That's why you are not going Ginny dear," the Weasly matriarch said to the very disappointed girl.

"I am in the midst of brewing a time sensitive potion, so my presence will have to be lacking," drawled Snape, a bit torn because he did want to spend some time with Katsumi, as both of their duties had kept them from just relaxing.

"Well, I suppose it's left to me to be the responsible adult," teased Remus, the teens expressions lighting up as they heard that at least one adult was coming along. "Just where are we going?" Asked Remus as he realized he had no clue, but had said yes just to make Harry and Katsumi smile at him like that.

"Clubbing!" Came the jubilant cry, and Remus groaned.

"Wheet whoo," whistled his sensei's, now nee-chan, voice. "I have a real handsome otouto." Harry's outfit, a collaboration of his shinobi tank top and weights, and wizarding gifts of black jeans, and dragon hide boots. He'd left his hair loose, as he'd heard his nee-chan say that she might be doing that as well, and turned to look at her.

Stunning, was the only word that came to mind. The ever-present mask was a lightweight silk, which wouldn't get sweaty while dancing. A cascade of deep blue silk halter scooped to show a fair amount of pale cleavage, also serving to darken her usually sky blue eyes. Dark red leather pants with black laces showed her slim, pale legs to the advantage, and serving as a belt buckle was her Konoha headband, the cloth replaced by studded black leather slung low on her slender hips. And the flame pendant on its silver chain was also present. Thigh length silver hair hung in spiked hunks, her bangs framing her delicate face.

"~ You look breathtaking nee-chan, ~" Harry said sincerely, and Katsumi's lovely eyes sparkled.

"~ Heh, you're like my twin. He thought I was pretty enough that the Seduction corps would try to recruit me, and threatened the recruiter within an inch of his life if he tried." Privately Harry agreed with his new brother, and he would have done the same. But he'd learned that Katsumi had a curious disregard for how she looked, and nothing you said could convince her she was more than averagely pretty.

Remus blushed a bright red when he saw Katsumi-nee, and Snape looked…a wide range of jealous of the twins who automatically wrapped an arm around her waist after she finished descending the stairs, and an emotion Harry had no name for crossed Snape's face. Mrs. Weasly clucked disapprovingly, and drew an envious Ginny away into the kitchen. Hermione was spared this fate as Harry found out that his sister helped outfit her in a creamy Roman-esque single strap tank top with a golden cloth tie, paired with dark washed Capri's and strappy, sparkling cream colored two inch Manolo Blaniks. And to show Katsumi's grooming might, she had tamed Hermione's hair into a gentle French twist, and letting a stray curl frame her heart shaped face. Ron looked like someone clubbed him over the head, but luckily Harry took a page from the twins' book, took Hermione's hand, bowed over it and placed a light kiss.

"The moon is put to shame by you Hermione," Harry said, pulling her to him so he could offer his arm to her. Hermione blushed under her summer tan and the Weasly twins hooted and cheered from their place at Katsumi-nee's side. Ron mumbled something that sounded complimentary and also offered his arm, which Hermione took.

"Come on boyos, you have to help the children apparate there. I'll go with Remus." The twins booed, but went to the apparation point with the Golden Trio and popped away. Katsumi looped an arm through the still blushing werewolf's, and the two popped away.

The pounding beat leant its self for easy dancing. Katsumi was noticeably sandwiched between the two tall Weasly redheads, as Harry dance a little less flamboyantly nearby with Hermione. Ron had yet to work up the nerve to ask Hermione to dance, and Harry hoped the night wouldn't go the same as the Yule Ball, and half the night was gone already. A slower song came on and Harry saw Katsumi gently aim the twins to a couple of girls that looked longingly at the dance floor. Duel kisses on her cheeks landed and then the twins bounded away to cheer up as many girls as they could. Katsumi-nee, Harry saw, asked Remus to dance, to which he saw him nod shyly and placed his hands in an almost reverent manner on the tops of her hips, his hand brushing the bare skin exposed there. Katsumi-nee's eyes shined brilliantly at Remus as she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

'She smells sooo good,' Remus thought, amber eyes caught and held by her own glittering sapphires. Moan, 'and the feel of her skin, those hard muscles playing underneath. She's trying to drive me crazy…and its working.'

Harry saw Remus begin to lean in, down towards Katsumi-nee's upturned face, and wondered if he should turn away or keep watching. However the question went without needing answering as a sudden chill came over the hot club. Harry could hear screams, but then realized they were coming from inside his own head.

_Dementors_!

The muggles in the club ran to the other exits, away from the entering Dementors, many in tears. The twins returned, looking grim with wands in hand, joining Remus in front Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with Katsumi-nee on Remus' other side.

"What's causing this cold and the despair?" Katsumi whispered, sounding quivery and unlike herself. The other looked at her in surprise; they were constantly forgetting she was technically a muggle for all that she didn't act amazed at magic.

"Its Dementors, they're creatures of darkness and live by sucking the happy memories out of people. Muggles can't see them." Remus said tersely, protectively stepping in front of Katsumi-nee as well. Harry wished he had been allowed to bring his wand, but the younger three had been told expressly not to.

"Harry, point me to where they are," hissed Katsumi, looking about blindly. But it was too late; the Dementors swooped down on the only defenders of the innocent. Cries of _Expecto Patronum _had silvery forms blasting out of three wands, yet one dementor got past them and grasped Katsumi-nee by the neck, cutting off the possibility of a scream.

Katsumi had to fight, her charge, now brother, needed her to protect him. But the memories were so close to overwhelming her…. otousan…

"KATSUMI-NEE-CHAN!"

Harry's scream cut through the memories threatening to drown her, and Katsumi preformed a complicated series of hand signs, ending by yanking down her delicate mask and breathing an Uchiha Grand Fireball on the creature she couldn't see, but could certainly feel it's scabrous hands about her throat. The Dementor panicked, and ran towards its fellows, catching them on fire as well.

The repugnant smell of rotting flesh burning hung in the air after the Dementors fled, and the empty feeling wouldn't leave either. Remus made a snap judgment and ordered everyone to the apparation point. He made sure the twins left with the children first, and he took the glassy eyed kunoichi carefully by the arm, and left with her as well.

Molly was fussing over the children, and as a testament as to how much they were affected, they didn't protest in the least. Remus saw Severus emerge from his lair, to see what the fuss was about, and was stunned to see a slightly trembling Katsumi, a lost look in her eyes. But as Remus saw him head towards her, Katsumi mumbled a good night and stumbled up the stairs.

"Lupin, you bring her up some hot chocolate, and I'll make sure she reaches her room alive." Severus said shortly, and hurried after Katsumi, steadying her shuffling form.

Remus quickly assembled a large cup of hot chocolate, glad that Molly had the children in hand, as she looked at Remus and waved him on.

Katsumi had change into her sleep clothes, a robe she had pilfered from Severus, which illuminated her pale skin, and was much too long for her, swallowing her slight form. She looked quite like a paper crane Remus had seen once, crushed underneath someone's shoe. Severus sat beside her on her bed, awkwardly patting her on her back, looking like he desperately wished he could fix it. Remus padded up quietly, wishing he could help her like she did for him during the full moon, or even remember the beautiful song that calmed his heart and gave him peace. But all he could do was offer a mug of chocolate.

Katsumi accepted it blankly, and move a hand to draw off her mask, when Severus' slender fingers caused her to halt the motion. She turned blindly towards him, a question there.

"Do you want us to turn away?" He asked softly. She shook her head, and drew it off the rest of the way. Once the thing that Remus had cursed for obscuring her face was gone, he felt the need to kneel. Katsumi had the face of a goddess.

Full, arched lips in a pale pink of baby roses, delicate cheekbones that screamed to be traced by worshipful fingers, a fragile jaw line of perfection, and a perfect nose that seemed to be carved out by the most superior sculptor. Flawlessness, thy name art Katsumi Hatake, thought both men.

She sipped her drink, unaware of the two men's thoughts, or their jealousy of a simple ceramic cup that could feel her lovely lips. No, her thoughts ran another way, and almost unconsciously she ran a thin hand over the features of her face.

"How I hate my face…. the face of a traitor…. a coward…why did we have to look just like Otousan? I was so proud before… when people we were his spitting image… now I know nothing but shame for it…" She whispered brokenly. The two men looked shocked at each other; now they knew why she covered her face always. Severus knew it was better to talk about, so he asked one more question.

"What happened to your father?"

Laughter, not her usual light, cheerful laugh, but a harsh parody of it. "Father put the lives of his team mates over the success of the mission, and had terrible consequences for my village. Many died, and hated my brother and I for Father's actions. He was their hero before, and then he was vilified. Then one day after coming home from the Academy, I found my Father dead in his room." The two men exchanged horrified looks, but Katsumi's story wasn't over. "He committed suicide, unable to live with the shame of his actions. My twin and I were five years old, and since we were about to graduate from the Academy, we were considered adults and left to fend for ourselves. I buried my Father myself, my brother couldn't stand to come near the man he had idolized, and then abandoned us in such a cowardly manner. And I have his face, his damn features stare at me from every mirror I see!" The last was a pained sob, and Katsumi lost all control, flung her mug at the wall, shattering it, and finally buried her face in her hands and cried. Quiet sobs of grief, wounds that would never completely heal, and Remus and Severus held the despairing woman between them, where they all eventually fell asleep together.

Author's Note- Well, I'd love to hear some comments, and yes Kakashi will appear, but not until quite a bit later in the story. Unless he runs off and tosses himself in ahead of schedule :D


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: And Another Summer Ends in Peace (more or less) And School Begins

Disclaimer- There once was a girl who loved to read and write stories in between working like a crazy person at a nursing home. Yet everyday the cruel reality struck- that Senpai-chan owned none of the marvelous stories :(

Severus was the first to awaken, as he wasn't used to having others in bed with him. Remus woke up at about the same time, since he also didn't usually have company except on the full moon. Katsumi followed the ninja lifestyle, live fast and die young. Though as the two men tried to untangle themselves the woman's eyes snapped open, the normally clear blue eyes blood shot. Her forehead creased, a little puzzled as to why both of them were there, one at a time she understood, but Katsumi figured that even she couldn't get them to try it when they were both there.

"Do you remember last night Katsumi?" Remus asked gently, taking her hand. Last night rushed back in a painful wave and Katsumi longed to have her twin here, the one person in the world who completely understood her.

"Yes, I broke rule twenty-five." She commented with a weak laugh. "And I really prefer if what was spoken about last night was never mentioned again. Dementors apparently bring out the worst in me."

"They do that to everyone, however depending on how awful your worst memory is measures how greatly you'd be affected." Remus replied, falling into a professorial mode.

"What's rule twenty-five 'Sumi-chan?" Asked Severus, picking what he thought was neutral territory.

"Never show emotion. An important rule for any ninja, especially us kunoichi. Yes I know what you're going to say, 'but 'Sumi-chan, aren't you always laughing and am cheerful?'. When a laid-back attitude and cheerfulness is your constant state, it's as effective as a blank mask. More so really," she added thoughtfully, "since if you run around blank faced, people are more suspicious of you than a happy fool."

"You would have been perfect in Slytherin," Severus finally said, no longer wanting to ponder how much of his friend was just a front.

"How are the children? Sorry I wasn't much help last night with them." She said apologetically, but the two men waved her apology aside.

"Molly took care of them and got them to bed just fine Katsumi. Now are you feeling up to a spot of breakfast?" Remus inquired, and then smiled as her stomach growled loudly.

"Maa maa, my stomach's such a traitor," Katsumi smiled, and it startled the two men to realized it wasn't just her eyes smiling, they could see her gorgeous face as well. She held open the door, and looked pointedly at Remus and Severus. "Well unless you really don't want to make it down to breakfast, I suggest you two handsome fellows vacate the premise." Both men became a lovely shade of red when they realized her insinuation, and hurried out.

Katsumi dressed slowly, long black spandex shorts first, a dark blue tank top next, fishnet short-sleeved shirt, pulled on fingerless black gloves with a metal plate on the back, and blue open-toed sandals, slipping her fire spirit pendant on last. 'Well not completely last,' she thought, as she slid her Konoha headband onto its proper place on her forehead. Splashing her face with chilly water, she stared long at her reflection.

Last night was the only time she had ever told anyone about what happened to her father and her and her twin. Back home in Konohagakure, everyone either knew the story of Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang, or they didn't. The Hatake twins never spoke of it after Katsumi buried their father, and it was that same day the twins donned their first masks. Shaking the dark thoughts away, Katsumi stuffed them away in the little box in her mind, compartmentalizing as they taught in the ANBU assassination squad. Time to find a gaki to beat up.

Harry was worn out from silent nightmares that the Dementors brought. After Katsumi-nee burst into his room during screaming nightmares, he learned to be quiet. She had insisted that it was no problem, and she wanted him to ask for her aid, but Harry did not want to be coddled. He was going to be a shinobi Katsumi-nee could be proud of. However, when his nee-chan and sensei came down to the breakfast table, Harry saw her skin was tired looking, eyes reddened, and an aura of forced cheerfulness. Harry also noticed Remus and Snape were shooting her concerned glancing when they thought she wasn't looking.

"All right Harry, today you'll learn the move that gave me the name I'm known by in the shinobi bingo book," Katsumi-nee said, dropping down on a bench and began serving herself. Harry's brow furrowed, and he realized while he had heard of the shinobi bingo book, she'd never mentioned her nickname.

"What is your nickname?" He asked, noticing that the others at the table were paying extra ordinary attention to their breakfast, ears pricked up. Then Harry blinked; Katsumi-nee was already done with breakfast and leaving the dining area. Suddenly Harry caught a scroll a mere half an inch from his face, making those around him gasp or start with surprise. He'd figured at this point she wasn't going to answer him, when she paused at the doorway, her back to the room.

"Tenshi Itami, which directly translated is Angel of Pain."

Leaving a room full of disturbed people, Harry left the house through the back door, all the while studying the scroll his sensei had made concerning her technique and its various quirks. She was a seal master as well as a ninjutsu crafter and was understandably proud of her skills. This scroll detailed that this was the first move she crafted, the art of making wings of chakra. However, as she experimented with them, she added her signature move, Angelic Flaming Hurricane. The process of lightening a person's body mass to achieve flight looked incredibly complicated, and Harry just knew this was one of those jutsu that would take a lot of trial and error to figure out.

Katsumi-nee was standing at her ease by a clear lake out by the edge of the Black property, an at ease stand that soldiers took. "Harry-kun, I'll demonstrate what it looks like first, and then break it down into steps. Oh and if you can successfully master this, the leaf instantaneous transportation jutsu will be a cake walk." Harry was incredibly glad he was close to achieving the versatile move, since the other methods of wizarding transportation, brooms excluded, were uncomfortable in one way or another. "Watch carefully now," warned his teacher and Harry observed which seals she made.

_Dragon Tiger Monkey Ram Cat Bird_

"Tenshi no Jutsu!" Wings, long and graceful seemed to emerge from Katsumi's back. They looked transparent for a bit, before the wings condensed, an off white, tinged with the blue color of his sister's chakra. Stretching them wide, his sister shoved off from the ground, he angelic form framed by the clear blue summer sky. Swooping and diving about, Harry could tell that the sadness that hung around his sister vanished as she preformed complex aerial maneuvers.

"Watch closely now Harry, here's my move!" Then with a laugh of exhilaration, Harry saw Katsumi-nee spiral higher until she executed and unbelievably sharp turn, plunging downward in a tight spiral. Flames, blue in color like her wings began to swirl around her body, until her form was no longer visible between the flaming streaks. Then with a terrific splash that created ten feet high waves, Katsumi plunged into the lake. Harry was unconcerned when his sister didn't emerge for a while, and as the waves subsided, he strolled casually out to where he could feel her chakra signature. Katsumi-nee broke the surface not even out of breath, though she had been under for over three minutes, and accepted Harry's hand with thanks. Climbing onto the water surface as easily as if it was dry land, and began walking back to land, explaining the technique and how it was accomplished with the least amount of chakra, since the flames were actually the chakra wings released from their molded form. Also it was better against larger, less mobile groups, as a small group of ninja would most likely have dodged it. Katsumi also explained that she landed in the lake because the rotational movement could become great enough to drill a pretty large hole.

"Oh and only me and my twin Kakashi have successfully mastered the flaming part of the technique, most can barely get up off the ground. So you have to keep up the clan honor and master it as well otouto." Smiling, Katsumi ruffled his hair with her wet hand, mussing it more than usual while heading back into the house. "I have work to do, so Ikko will help you out, since he was there for all of the stages of crafting the jutsu." The small fox perched on a sun warmed rock, and began to teach Harry how to gather the chakra on his back, split it, and push it out. So Harry's day was spent under the watchful eyes of his sister's summon, with a short break for lunch. By the time the sun was setting Harry was nearly out of chakra when Katsumi came out to check on him.

"So how'd he do Ikko-kun?" She asked, observing Harry's exhausted state and passing him a water bottle. He gratefully accepted it and drank it slowly, not wanting to throw it back up.

"This just confirms it Katsumi, the gaki here is a genius on par with his older siblings. He can already manage solid wings, he'll be ready to learn the lightening work tomorrow." Harry blushed at the high praise from the dark fox.

"Have enough left in you to show me?" His sister asked, her eyes smiling proudly at him. Harry wasn't positive, but he badly wanted to show he was worthy of the honor of having a spot in his sister's clan. Focusing at the spot between his shoulder blades, Harry sent a generous amount of chakra there, and concentrating hard, he split them into two oval pools. Then tensing his shoulders, Harry pushed both physically and mentally, until he felt his wings slid out.

"Very good Harry, just one thing…" Katsumi-nee said, looking at him curiously. Harry was about to cry from exhaustion, well probably not, but he was feeling disappointed. Katsumi picked up Harry's depression and hastened to reassure him she was proud of him.

"Then what's wrong?" Harry asked miserably.

"Nothings wrong Harry, it's just…have you seen your wings?" Harry didn't really bother looking, depending on Ikko to tell him to start over or not. So Harry went over to look at his reflection in the lake, and was shocked to see not the angelic wings his sister displayed, but wings like the Hungarian Horntail he had fought, just tinged blue instead of black like the Horntail.

"Why am I never normal?" Harry moaned, flapping his wings a bit. Katsumi just laughed, patting him on his shoulder.

"You belong to a proud clan of ninja now Harry, abnormality is expected." And oddly enough, that helped.

The rest of the summer was spent getting the Angelic Flaming Hurricane in working order, speed training, and weapons training, specifically with the light blades. The most surprising sight, as most of the inhabitants of Grimmauld Place would agree was when they caught a sunset duel being held on the lake with Harry battling fiercely with Katsumi as easily as if on land, their white and silver blades clashing and sparking. Then suddenly Harry got under Katsumi's guard and slashed her in half, from collarbone to hip. The shocked look on his and the audience's faces was horrifying, but before anyone could move towards the "corpse", in a puff of smoke it changed into a cleaved log.

"That was _not_ funny Nee-chan!" Harry bellowed while everyone looked around confused as to what was going on now. A laugh came from the trees, and the audience was stunned to see Katsumi reclining on a thick oak tree branch. As she came down and moved toward the group, a horde of angry and frightened witches and wizards descended on her. Suffice it to say Katsumi had to apologize multiple times and deal for the rest of the evening with a set of clingy twins, a darkly furious potions master, and a shell-shocked werewolf. Harry felt that was adequate revenge in itself.

Harry spent the morning of September 1st helping Ron pack his trunk and locate Ron's prefect's badge, which the twins had enchanted to say pig-like, and eat breakfast with his sister, planning out the train ride. She would be there, but remain concealed since she wasn't technically supposed to be there, and Harry had a suspicion there was more to this than his sister was telling him, but she just twinkled and refused to say anything. So he gave up and joined Katsumi, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione on a bench for the Knight Bus. Harry was again glad for his grueling training during the summer; it kept him from being flung about the wildly moving Knight Bus.

They made it to the platform with ten minutes to spare, huffing and puffing. Well everyone except Harry and Katsumi-nee-chan that is. As last greetings were called from the teens' train compartment, Ikko jumped from his sister's shoulder through the open window to Harry. Wide eyed, Harry stared at his nee-chan, who had a larger silver and black fox draped over her shoulders after arriving in a puff of smoke.

"Ikko and I talked it over, and we decided he would join you as your permanent partner. You would have to stick to summoning foxes, so before you sign his contract you should think this over otuoto." The words hardly left her mouth before Harry was hugging the little fox summon and agreeing to signing the contract. Eyes crinkled in a smile, Katsumi-nee produced the summoner scroll, which Harry painstakingly signed in kanji form. He then without batting an eye, bit his finger hard enough to offer blood, and Ikko accepted it, making him a permanent summon-companion with very little chakra expended.

The train began to move just after Ikko's acceptance, and Harry quickly threw the summoner scroll back to his sister. She caught it easily and waved good-bye to him, smiling broadly at him, and a familiar twinkle in her eyes. A twinkle that always preceded a particularly sneaky prank. As his nee-chan faded from his sight Harry realized something entirely new; he was sad that summer had ended and he was going back to Hogwarts. Giving a little sigh, Harry settled down to pass the time with his friends, glad for the comforting presence of his new fox familiar.

The ride passed in an unnatural kind of relaxation for Harry, who hadn't realized how much of his time this summer he had dedicated to training and studying. His friends were still a bit awkward with him, well the twins weren't, but they weren't even awkward with even Snape anymore, so they hardly counted. Ron and Hermione had seen first hand how far from them Harry was becoming, and while they promised that they would support Harry, they knew that the Golden Trio was no more. It didn't help that Harry's adopted sister creeped them out. She was friendly enough, but the two had caught snatches of the adult's conversation and had heard about the slaughter before she and Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place. And from what Hermione and Ron saw of Harry's training sessions just reinforced the creepy feelings. But for Harry's sake they tolerated the presence of one that was a known killer.

It disturbed Harry that he could see skeletal horses drawing the carriages, and mumbled quietly to a dozing Ikko if he could see them as well.

"Hai," was the short reply, and Harry knew he'd have to ask someone else for a more complete answer later. The small fox tightened his grip briefly on Harry's school robes, the only sign that he was even partially conscious. As Harry settled into the carriage, he placed a careful hand on Ikko's head, once again glad for his presence. Harry hadn't expected to miss his sister so soon, but he figured he was just making up for all the time he had no one dear to miss. Though the receiving of his sister's cherished fox companion as his own was a shocking pleasure. Ikko had been with his sister since she was ten, and had told him many stories of her life in her home, Konohagakure: The Hidden Village in the Leaves. The more Harry heard about it, the more a plan grew in his mind. Once his ties to the Wizarding World were ended, he was going to Konoha and see if his sister's offer of home and family were still up.

With a jolt, Harry realized that the carriage had stopped and everyone else was getting out. Ikko had actually yawned loudly in his ear and gave a little bark. Thanking him, Harry clambered out of the carriage. It still seemed a little odd that Ikko refused to speak in words in front of anyone but him, and Katsumi-nee-chan, but the tactical advantage was that no one hesitates to speak in front of a dumb animal. Still, it made Harry rather uncomfortable to treat his friends as only potential allies who weren't quite trustworthy. But if there was one thing Harry learned in his training with his sister was to hang onto every advantage, no matter how small.

Harry got some odd looks and quite a few catcalls from what seemed to be his "girly scarf" since Ikko was lying so still that when Harry took a seat in the Great Hall he gave a small poke to Ikko. The summon grunted, but continued to sleep, even through the Sorting Hat's song. Harry groaned as another Creevy joined Gryffindor, but didn't really know any of the other little kids. Then Dumbledoor made his standard welcome and warning speech, introducing the new defense professor, a toad-like woman in a hideously pink cardigan and a simpering manner. Before Dumbledoor could continue, the squat woman interrupted.

"Hem hem, thank you for that lovely introduction Headmaster Dumbledoor. I so hope that we can all be friends here. Now the Minister of Magic," Harry could have swore the woman wanted to swoon just saying his name, "has found that the Ministry needs a more direct presence with the education of our future." Good Kami-sama was this woman going to shut up so they could EAT? "Now while the Headmaster employs a wonderful staff I am sure, the guidance of the Minister of Magic," more almost swooning, "would greatly benefit Hogwarts. We have of course received some complaints but that's only-" They never did find out what it only was, as both of the Great Hall's doors burst open, revealing the last person Harry expected to walk in.

His nee-chan walked in, dressed quite differently from her normal attire. Her headband was still there as was her mask, but she was wearing the Wizarding robes of a rebellious young adult witch, half sleeves flipped up at the cuff, collared but open that a hint of her full chest showed, laced from the base of her bust across her flat stomach, fabric of the front gone and skin tight black shorts in their place, calf high shiny black boots and matching fingerless gloves completed the outfit. Harry stared, snapping his mouth shut as his sister winked at him.

"Oi, Harry, did you know that Hatake was going to be here?" Whispered Ron, ignoring his twin brothers who were whistling and catcalling… and they weren't the only ones. It made an odd little vein on Harry's forehead twitch as he heard some of the more suggestive comments aimed at his sister. Who he admitted didn't need his help, but too bad, he was her brother.

"Maa maa, sorry I'm late Dumbledoor-dono, I got lost on the path of life and the time just slipped away. I hope I didn't miss anything." Actually she was doing a perimeter check and also got rid of a few nasty traps laid about the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. But she couldn't actually say that here, so she just used one of her twin's favorite excuses. Lazily taking in the room, she saw her otouto with Ikko wrapped around his neck, the twins seated across him calling to her, and an angry toad faced woman. Mentally apologizing to Jiraiya for comparing the woman to his toads, she continued her graceful stride up to the head table, her medium sized fox companion walking at his ease beside her.

"Not at all Professor Hatake, I was just about to get to you anyway. Students I'm sorry to inform you that this summer Professor Binns crossed over," here Dumbledoor was interrupted by thunderous applause and cheers, even from the Slytherins. "Yes, we'll miss his teaching here," misconstruing the students' response Dumbledoor continued, "Though we are fortunate to have Professor Katsumi Hatake from Japan to teach. She will have colleagues here through out the school year, and I expect you will treat them with the same respect that you give your professors. And now, let us eat!" With those words, a huge feast appeared before the hungry students, and Harry dug in with gusto.

Up at the High table, Katsumi was seated not only next to Severus, which pleased her, but to the woman that gave off such underhanded oily-ness to give a ninja a run for their money. With an inward grimace, Katsumi figured she'd have to brush up on those diplomatic skills. But just what box had she left them in…?

"Konichiwa Madame, I am afraid I missed your introduction." There, suitably neutral, yet respectful enough to deflect suspicion.

"Oh no my dear that's quite alright. I am Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, Dolores Umbridge and will be teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. That was quite the flashy entrance you made wasn't it? And those clothes…well you are a rather progressive teacher aren't you?" All this was said with a titter that grated on Katsumi's nerves more than she'd ever show.

"Well I find students learn better from a more approachable teacher, one they both connect with and respect. That, and I feel I'm a bit young to dress like a more established teacher. I would look more like a child playing dress up." All this was said with a forced look of cheeriness in her eyes, and to Katsumi's smug relief, the woman bought it. Thankfully Umbridge turned to Professor Sinistra, and after a few obnoxious comments, Katsumi tuned them out, turning to spend the rest of the dinner talking with Severus. And when Umbridge inquired when the two had met, Katsumi smoothly lied and said she had an interest in potions, and had run into Severus in the Diagon Alley. Thus their friendship was filed away under the strange-but-possible-happenings box. As everyone was finishing up dinner, Dumbledoor stood, gave the signal to get rid of it, and dismissed all of them to bed.

Harry got to bed without anyone bothering him; glad Ron and the twins seemed to notice his reluctance to talk and ran interference for him. Shedding his wizarding robes on his trunk, Harry just wore his shinobi tank top and cargo pants to sleep in, a habit he'd gotten into when he'd first started training with nee-chan and wasn't awake enough in the morning to dress properly. Ikko curled up at his side, but then sat strait up.

"Ikko what's up-" Harry began, but then saw what startled his dark fox. In a patch of moonlight sat the silver fox that was now accompanying his sister as Ikko once did.

"Hello Otouto, are you behaving?" Asked the silver fox in a lazy manner.

"Hai Aniki, of course I am!" The little summon answered indignantly, his tail puffing up slightly. His older brother just gave a huffing laugh before turning to Harry, eyeing him with a sharpness that belied his relaxed and lazy state.

"So you're the gaki Katsumi-sama felt was worthy to summon the fox clan." Dark eyes seemed to peer deep into his soul, taking his measure. "Hmmm our lady hasn't done us wrong yet, so I welcome you on behalf of the kitsune clan of summons. Since you can probably not summon more than my otouto, we will not call on you to make a sacrifice in the end." Harry wasn't positive just what occurred, but felt that he had passed some kind of test.

Bowing the best he could while sitting on a squishy bed, Harry had to ask, "Sorry, but I didn't catch your name. Also what did you mean by sacrifice?"

Again a huff of a laugh came, and then the summon leapt onto the bed, it sinking under his weight a bit. "I am Ikano, a second level summon of the kitsune. Otouto here is a first level. We animals are very size oriented, so the larger of us you summon, the more powerful your summon is. However, the larger the summon the more power you'll need to use it as your ally. Most of the larger summons demands a sacrifice for their aid, where my brother and I won't, as we are more companions than run of the mill summons. Though we are not," dark eyes flashed fiercely, "_pets_!" Harry's head spun a bit at this, because this was more straight information then he'd managed to get out of Katsumi-nee-chan since…ever. Harry hastened to reassure the riled summon that he did not think of them as pets, privately glad Ikko was his companion, as his aniki seemed to have less of a sense of humor. Besides, Ikano was the size of an adolescent Labrador, and looked decidedly un-cute at the moment.

"Anyway, this is from Katsumi-sama," Ikano continued, tugging a note that was concealed somewhere on his body. "Ja ne Harry-san, otouto," and with that the silvery fox disappeared in a puff of nin-smoke. Unfolding the short note, Harry groaned and threw his body back into his bed, and promptly relaxed his body to get to sleep immediately. Ikko, being a curious little kitsune, looked over the note, before he gave a chuckle and then sprawled next to Harry, feigning sleep since as a summon he needed little rest. As for the note it read-

_Hey otouto_

_No rest for the wicked…or those hunted by the wicked._

Harry, to his disappointment, didn't have History with his sister until Friday since the train had rolled in on Tuesday, the other day of the week that her class was held on his schedule. Though he did train with her every morning from usually three to six, it wasn't the same as the summer training. Their training was now done far from the castle and the prying eyes of anyone inside. The main jutsu he was working on just then was the leaf transportation jutsu, though Harry hadn't managed more than ten feet of distance from his start place. Nee-chan however reassured him that he was progressing well. Luckily though, since the school robe covered most of his body, Harry didn't need to explain his bruises and cuts and only had to be careful when bathing. And if he had any scratches on his hands or face Harry would blame them on Ikko, who told him privately that he thought it was funny fooling everyone. In any case, none of the teachers objected to the little fox's presence with Harry, as Ikko was quiet and usually pretending to sleep. Well except for one teacher…

~Flash back~

"Good morning class, put your wands up, there will be no use for them today," came a high, girlish voice. Professor Umbridge was as unattractive individual up close as she was at a distance, Harry decided. As the roll was called, Professor Umbridge looked up at Harry's name, and smiled a sickly sweet smile that put Harry's finely honed instincts on high alert.

"Oh my Mr. Potter I'm afraid I don't allow pets in the classroom," she tittered, watery eyes fixed on the sleeping form of Ikko in his usual place, which was draped over Harry's shoulders and neck. The fox simply opened one eye and yawned widely, showing an inordinate amount of teeth. Since really he wasn't a true fox, but a kitsune summon, he did have more teeth than the average fox and was much more dangerous.

"Well I don't actually control Ikko Professor, he's his own fox. He's my familiar in any case, and he strengthens my magic," Harry returned calmly. All of this was something Katsumi-nee-chan, Ikko, Ikano, and he had concocted with Dumbledoor after his first morning back practice. Dumbledoor apparently knew quite a bit about ninja and even their summons, so Ikko had felt no need to keep up the usual pretense of being just a fox.

"Nonsense," she chattered, "I do not tolerate lying either Mr. Potter and I know no fifth year could have a familiar yet. Now please leave your pet in your dorms from now on." Before Harry could protest, a puff of nin-smoke floated in front of him and Ikko reappeared in front of Umbridge, sitting calmly on her desk. She attempted to shoo him off, Harry noting her shock and discomfiture, and then fear as Ikko snapped at her flapping hand.

"Remove this creature now Mr. Potter!" Professor Umbridge shrieked shrilly. Ikko snorted in disgust at her and bounded across desks to come back to Harry, whose lap he sat on. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for using magic on your creature to have him attack me and detention! Keep that little monster under control."

"But Professor, I didn't even have my wand out! How could I have used any magic?" Harry in fact had been beginning training with wand-less magic, after he had read in a book that the Founders had been adept at it, though he hadn't told Katsumi-nee-chan, as he wanted to surprise her.

"Do you want a week of detentions and more points gone Mr. Potter?" Umbridge asked dangerously. Harry suppressed the urge to flare his killing intent right back. He sharply shook his head, and glared at his innocent desk. Harry knew he could easily kill or maim the toady professor, but knew he needed the magical knowledge to protect those who were precious to him, and couldn't afford to leave the school now. A wet tongue licked his chin and Harry saw in Ikko's dark eyes an apology for the trouble caused. Shoving the anger away to be dealt with later, Harry put on a blank mask, but gently pet Ikko's head. He would be patient, and get his revenge at a more suitable time.

That was the shinobi way.

~End flash back~

Harry was still planning his revenge, and was working on several ideas with a bit of help from the Weasly twins, who had also gotten on the wrong side of the new Defense professor. How long the revenge lasted depended on the severity of the detention, Harry decided. So Friday evening was when Umbridge would seal her fate.

But as Harry walked silently between Hermione and Ron to his History class, he smoothly side stepped, and saw the flare of a mild tripping hex fly past and hit Lavender Brown, who fell face first on the unforgiving stone floor. Nose dripping blood and crying, her best friend Parvati Patil hurried her to the infirmary as Harry looked around for the source of the discharge of energy he felt. A flash of white-blonde hair was all he caught, but it was more than enough for Harry to identify his failed attacker. Draco Malfoy, who had been making snide comments about the 'lying lunatic who was a poofer and now buggering the Weasel instead of the Mudblood' and other such remarks both in Harry's presence and out. Harry reflected that the old him would have lost his temper and blown up instantly, but now he found it amusing, and mildly annoying. He attributed the amusement that his sister's somewhat twisted sense of humor had rubbed off on him. In regard to his sexuality, Harry decided while Cho was attractive, her gender wasn't really type. He had yet to find a woman, other than his sister, that was his equal, and really men were more attractive. And after meeting Gai and learning that ninja apparently couldn't care less about what your orientation was only reinforced his wish to go home with his sister to Konoha.

These were the thoughts in Harry's head as he entered his sister's classroom, which promptly fled once he looked around. It wasn't a classroom, not any more. It was a scale model of a mountain area, the center of which stood his sister. He felt that slightly off sensation that he had been hit with a genjutsu and held back the urge to dispel it. The other students looked around in amazement and murmured to each other.

"Welcome class, I'm pleased to finally meet you all. Now I understand my predecessor taught all from a lecturer's point and mainly about goblins-" Here she was cut off by Dean Thomas.

"And bloody boring it was Professor!" Katsumi-nee-chan just raised an eyebrow, amused, though Harry doubted anyone other than him would be tell she was anything other than annoyed. The dark skinned boy flushed and mumbled, "well its true."

"Yes, well in any case I have found students learn better in a hands on method," here her eyes twinkled as she looked directly at Harry, the two of them sharing their private joke that only Hermione and Ron could perhaps get. "So instead of a troublesome lecture on goblins, I have recreated a famous past battle that the Founders won to gain the grounds on which this castle was built." Seeing the astonished faces, Katsumi-nee-chan frowned, furrowing her brows so that even the children who didn't know her well would understand her. "I'm supposing you didn't know this." Hermione raised her hand, and Katsumi-nee-chan nodded at her.

"Well Professor Hatake, we haven't been taught much about any thing other than goblins and their wars." Katsumi-nee-chan shook her head, her silver braid swishing against her silk robes.

"Ah well, I guess I can't expect you to be as well read as the Ravenclaws," she said, which made Hermione flush at the implication there were those who more dedicated to knowledge than her. However, Katsumi-nee-chan ignored this and split the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs that shared their class in an even mixes of four groups. Susan Bones was made general over her forces as Helga Hufflepuff; Hermione was made general over Rowena Ravenclaw's, and to the surprise of most, Neville Longbottom was made general over Godric Gryffindor's forces. All of these generals were volunteers, even Neville, but when a volunteer to be Salazar Slytherin was called for, only one hand was held up. Harry had raised his hand, not volunteering for the others, but wanting this one. Slytherin's style required grace and power, and Harry found that suited his nature far more than the brash brute style of Gryffindor. Katsumi smiled to herself; she had hoped her otouto would make that choice, as it indicated whether his nature was still that of the young wizard she'd met at the start of the summer, or more like that of a young shinobi. And it definitely pointed to a shinobi, and this battle she had set in motion would gauge how he dealt with leading a team, kind of like a chuunin exam.

Harry looked over his subordinates, assessing their strengths and weakness as he'd seen through five years of schooling with them. It bothered him that he didn't know much about any of them. Seamus Finnegan mediocre at almost everything but was more talented at charms when he applied himself. Ernie Thatcher was a spineless gossip from what Harry knew of him, and while not bad at potions and herbology, was no where as good as Neville in herbology or Hermione at potions. Melissa Silk was another Hufflepuff, and Harry knew only that she was quite talented in transfiguration. Lastly Justin Finch-Fletchly, the boy who though Harry had tried to kill him with a snake second year and had apologized later for accusing him. He was in Hermione's ancient runes class and was second only to her, as well as having a talent for defense magic. Motioning them to follow him, Harry went to confer with the other generals.

As the four generals and their teams of four gathered to plan, Harry noticed each set of teams had the color of their robes changed by the genjutsu to reflect the house they now represented. 'Ron should never wear yellow,' Harry thought absently as he saw his friend come up with Susan's team.

"So who are we fighting?" Asked Hermione as they gathered.

"Well I had hoped you'd learned a bit about the battle, but I'll at least tell you your enemies," said Katsumi-nee-chan unexpectedly from behind them. The students turned to her and looked expectantly. "Alright then, we have a Dark camp of a giant, a rogue clan of vampires, and a pack of werewolves, led by a dangerous wizard and a number of his followers with him. They are preying on the nearby village, which will become Hogsmead in the future, and the residents have called on the quartet of wizards and witches for assistance. The ones who will become your Founders came and brought their apprentices. And that's all the free information you'll get." She ignored the protests with a smile, and walked back to a boulder where Ikano was sunning in the fake sunlight.

Harry turned back to the others, a slight frown on his face. He knew the other three generals had realized that their teacher had not told them just how big the enemy forces were, or where they were located, nor the defense against them. How they were to do this in a single class he didn't know…

Look underneath the underneath

Came the thought, and Harry realized something abruptly. This was a test, for him and his skills. He had been since then only learned in theory how to work with a team, and knew that if he was trained as a normal shinobi, he would have had a three man cell, and as a chuunin later, a varying amount of teammates. Katsumi-nee-chan wanted to see if he could gather information, plan, and successfully win a battle he only had bare information about with a team that he hardly knew and other teams that were commanded by those he wasn't sure he could rely on to aid him when push came to shove. No, this wasn't a task for one class hour, and Harry knew there would be more to it.

"Well what do we do now?" Neville asked nervously, as if he expected the enemies mentioned to come boiling out of the far off forest and charge up the hills to attack them.

"We need information," Hermione said, and there was a murmur of assent from their subordinates.

"Bag that, lets just beat them down," came Ron's voice, and many of the boys, like Seamus and Dean, nodded enthusiastically.

"You are not a general and will not being making that decision," Susan said sharply, to Harry's surprise. He thought of her as a bit meek, but remembered that her mother was the head of the defense department, and some of her nature must have rubbed off on her daughter.

"Well we can't waste time with sneaking around trying to find things out," Ron grumbled back, glaring at Susan.

"Yes we can, and it won't be a waste," Harry said, drawing all attention to him. He sighed, and began to explain to his denser classmates. "Think about it, there's no way a rabble of twenty five could ever win against an army of unknown sized. But if we observe the enemy, find out their numbers, research their weaknesses, we stand a good chance of winning. I doubt this is a one-lesson thing; most likely we will be given more time to come out with a way to win."

"Why do you think that Harry," inquired Neville. Harry smirked a bit at him.

"There's no way the four most brilliant wizards and witches in Britain's magically history just charged into a fight they knew nothing about. You can bet they planned, trained, studied the enemy, and spied. Besides, did Professor Hatake," it was strange for Harry to refer to his sister that way, but rather not reveal their relationship yet, "set a time limit? This is going to be an ongoing project from what I've heard from the other classes that were fifth year and up. The younger years have groups to reconstruct a famous bit of history, requiring hours of research and training in different magics to pull it off." The others looked thoughtful at this.

"I had heard a bit about that from the older students I share my arithmancy class with, but didn't understand it until now," Hermione put in, nodding her bushy head.

"Well done, that was the best out of all the classes I've put this kind of challenge to," came Katsumi-nee-chan's voice from behind the huddle of students. Startled, they turned to her. "The Ravenclaws and Slytherins couldn't agree on a method of attack and split from their groups, and the Slytherin group attacked and failed while the Ravenclaws were crushed as they tried to run. Similar thing happened to all the classes from each year, though the worst was the seventh year Slytherin-Gryffindor class that had in - fighting and took each other out before the enemy could. You are the first class to look deep enough to realize the projected scope of what needs to be done before engaging your enemy, as the Founders did before their battle to protect Hogsmead." She smiled at them all, her eyes twinkling at the class. She was especially proud, since she knew Harry was the one that truly recognized her lesson for what it was; a test for him, disguised as a lesson for everyone. All of the students could benefit from it no doubt, but it really was for her otouto, a favoritism that Katsumi felt no shame for. This was in fact going to be his Chuunin exam, since the Hokage had allowed her to promote Harry as she saw fit.

"You have until the end of the semester to successfully plan an attack. It will be a major portion of your grade, so do it carefully." Here she passed out four silver keys to the generals, and explained there purpose. "With Dumbledor-dono's help, these keys, when used in this door, will activate your class's specific simulation, so you may plan your attack on the terrain, and whatever else you need. However, if you lose a pitched battle with the enemy, you will have to have me reset the battle grounds, which will result in the loss of points for the houses participating." At the protest, she stared at the young student with a steely look.

"In a true battle, you'd lose your life if you lost, so be glad its just points. Also, you should know that if you are injured or even die in the simulation, it will look and feel real." The students, besides Harry who knew that's what a skilled genjutsu did, looked disturbed. "This is as real as you can get, but after the simulation ends, you'll all be fine." If a little shook up, Katsumi added mentally.

Glancing at her watch, Katsumi looked to her students and dismissed her genjutsu, which fled back to the door, which embed in it were the seal scrolls that held the different simulations, a line of magic and chakra leading to them from the doorknob. Without Dumbledoor-dono's suggestion, Katsumi doubted that she would have though of it her self, as it relied more on Dumbledoor-dono's magic than Katsumi's chakra. "Oh and you'll have to plan on your own time, since during class we will be studying other topics, so work with your generals, and you generals will have to confer with each other. You're dismissed to head to your next class." The class filed out of the now normal room, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Well that was bloody best history class we've ever had," Justin spoke up unexpectedly, and Harry had to grin.

"I bet it'll only get better, nothing could start out so fantastic and then get dull," Melissa added thoughtfully.

"It seemed dangerous," whined Parvati, who had made it back to class in time to be put on Susan's team of Hufflepuffs.

"That's the fun part," Ron put in, grinning a bit of a feral grin. That got a raised eyebrow from Harry, and several claps on the back from the other boys. Apparently even though Ron didn't like his sister, she'd rubbed off on him, Harry thought. That or Ron had spent too much time with Sirius, which was more likely.

"So when should we get together to work out what we're to do?" Asked Hermione, pushing a strand of hair back over her ear.

"Tonight at dinner, we can go sit with the Hufflepuffs," Harry said, ignoring the looks of astonishment. They were all still locked in their little worlds where the houses didn't interact except through class or Quidditch. "Each team sits next to their general, and the generals sit two next to each other and two across. Head towards the end of the table so we won't have a lot of people bothering us." Slow nods of assent greeted this, and the two houses split, Hufflepuff to charms and the Gryffindors to the dungeons for potions.

As the Gryffindors reached the potion room doors, they found the Slytherins loitering in front of them, Draco at their head. Unconsciously the Gryffindors had arrayed themselves behind Harry, Ron and Hermione, Harry in the lead while talking strategy with Ron, Hermione adding in. As Draco drawled, the Gryffindors halted, the two groups facing off.

"Planning a midnight grope with you blood traitor, Potter?" Draco asked leeringly. Ron turned an ugly shade of purple, but Harry waved him back. Harry was feeling quite successful, and in concordance, quite playful. He tapped into what he called his Hatake side, and raised an eyebrow, looking at Draco lazily.

"You're quite insistent that I'm gay, Draco-_chan_," Harry drawled. Ron and Hermione had heard the suffix before, used by Snape to address Professor Hatake, and knew that the male suffix was _kun_. Both snickered quietly while Ikko snorted mentally, and began to pay attention to the confrontation, to see if he had to help or just remember enough of it to tell Katsumi for some laughs.

"I only call it how I see it Potter," replied Draco, confused at the application of the chan, and Potter's use of his first name.

"So you wish to see me as gay?" Harry asked, but continued before Draco could speak. "Well if you wanted my _attention_ so badly Draco-_chan_ all you had to do was _ask_," the last part was said huskily, as Harry openly scanned Draco head to toe and back again in a rather startlingly lascivious manner. The pale boy turned cherry red, eeped, and fled to the potions classroom. The other Slytherins followed in a disorganized, and disturbed fashion, and the other Gryffindors simply looked horrified at Harry. Harry had to swallow a rather evil laugh, and reassured his year mates that he was just getting under Malfoy's skin.

"You're a bloody good actor then mate," Neville said rather fervently. The gay part bothered him much less than the idea of Harry and Malfoy, his brain refusing to even picture it. Secretly, the inner yaoi fan in the Gryffindor girls, a side they didn't even know they had, was disappointed. The two, aristocratic and pale Malfoy, and tanned, long and dark haired Harry made a lovely contrast in their minds. (Never going to happen, I have others in mind for Harry dearest).

Snape had been watching the exchange where he was lurking disillusioned in a corner where Harry had felt him, to make sure it didn't escalate into a fight. That was also part of why Harry did what he had. Harry wished he could see Snape's expression.

Severus was stunned, leaning on his corner. He was glad he wouldn't be getting on Sumi-chan's bad side by giving her little brother detention, which Umbridge had done. Though the way Potter dealt with the problem made his head spin with shock. 'Sumi-chan has been an interesting influence on the boy, whether bad or good…well I'm leaning toward bad, even if the boy ended it without trouble. James Potter is probably rolling in his grave.' Were the disturbed thoughts of one Severus Snape as he entered his classroom. The embarrassed, and sexually strained silence made for possibly the most awkward class Severus ever taught, and it was with relief that he released them all to dinner, when he could talk to Katsumi and rely what had happened, if Potter hadn't told her by then.

Dinner brought little relief to the strangeness plaguing the school. As planned, the Gryffindor fifth years sat with the Hufflepuff fifth years at their table, arraying themselves in their four groups by their generals. Dumbledoor smiled serenely; glad that the idea he had worked on with the silver haired kunoichi had born such good fruit. The houses were mixing and interacting again, even if it was just two, that was a good start. The other students were baffled, but Hufflepuffs, being the inoffensive types, let it lie. In any case, the fifth years gathered together were focused on two things, their planning session and the food.

"We need a way to contact each other, and I don't think it should depend on people passing it on. Someone could forget, and when we're practicing in the simulation we have to have a way to talk to each other in a way no enemy spy could detect." Harry began, taking control of the meeting. He knew he was the best trained to lead this campaign, and hoped the others would follow his lead.

"We also need to decide which unit should do what," Susan added, falling back on what she knew of her mother's work for the ministry. "You know how there's heads of the different departments in the ministry? Well we're already have four groups, so all that's left is what each group should do."

"My group and I will work on the problem of contacting each other and research what is known about the enemies like the vampires and giant and their weaknesses." Hermione volunteered, and the others in her group nodded in approval.

"I'll work on strategy and tactics for use of the land," Neville offered hesitantly.

"Part of your job then should be the best way to draw the enemy where we have the best advantage to fight them then Neville," Harry said. "Also you might want to start thinking on traps to lay on the battleground, bramble snares, pits filled with wooden spikes, that kind of thing." Neville nodded seriously; glad to have a real job.

"My unit will take care of gathering defensive and offensive spells and training everybody in them. We'll work with Hermione's group to figure out what spells were used at the time and how to defend against them," Susan put forward, and Harry nodded in approval.

"That leaves information to my team," Harry stated, knowing his shinobi training made his especially ready for it. "We'll find out how many vampires, werewolves, and wizards and witches there are, as well as who is in charge. We'll also be working as saboteurs and try to find out the enemies' plans." His team looked surprised at his detailing, but no one, not even Ernie, protested. In truth, the group was becoming a whole fighting unit under Harry's command, just as Katsumi had hoped. For the students, as they were planning, their battle it became real to them, and by the end of dinner, they were ready to begin their mission.

Yay. another chapter! Blah blahhied blah, thanks for reading and that precious handful of reviews!


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